The Price They Paid
by Yanagi-wa
Summary: They' demand that someone pay for the war crimes the Gundam pilots commited. Heero draws the short straw. The differences between his life in prison and the other pilots lives on the outside can be quite starteling and interesting. DuoHeero, mm, yaoi
1. The Price

Disclaimer: I don't own the Gundam Boys. A bunch of companies and authors own them. All I have done is borrow them for a while. Please don't sue me I'm not profiting from this so I can't pay anything. All you'll get is my junkyard hog and it's broke down.

Due to the nature of the way I'm telling my story some of the chapters will be very long and some may be no more than nine or ten paragraphs, if I post a very short chapter I'll try to post two or more.

Rated: NC-17 Swearing, sexual innuendo, full body cavity search, limes and lemons later on. Except on FF which doesn't allow NC-17 will be edited for sutability.

thoughts

Duo nagging

The price they paid.

"Heero Yuy, you are sentenced to ten years for crimes against society. And ten years for involuntary manslaughter. Sentences to run concurrently"

Heero just looked at the judge. Considering what he'd been charged with, it was a light sentence. After all, the charges had ranged from murder to treason and everything between.

The lawyers Quatre had hired had managed to get the charges reduced to involuntary manslaughter and crimes against society. They were all lucky. At first 'they' had wanted to charge all of them with War Crimes. But Relena Peacecraft had refused, saying that only the commanding officer would be charged, the common soldiers had only been following orders. She'd done it for every other branch of the services and the Gundam Pilots weren't to be treated any different.

Heero had said that they should draw straws to decide who was commanding officer of the Gundam Pilots. Duo swore that he'd fixed it somehow and thrown a fit. But Chang Wufei insisted that it was legitimate.

"Heero, you fixed that draw. I saw you."

"Yes I did and you will keep your mouth shut about it. Can you really see Duo or, most especially Quatre, in prison? I've been in prison all my life. I can handle it."

Chang looked at Heero for a second, then pointed out that he or Trowa could just as easily have taken the fall.

"No, Trowa has to stay with Quatre. You'd pine away locked behind stone walls. And Duo wouldn't last out a month before he got himself in real trouble. So I'm the most logical one to do it. Don't cause any trouble."

Wufei had finally agreed to keep his mouth shut, but only because he couldn't think of any more arguments. Heero was the one who was most used to a strictly regimented life style. His training had prepared him for this, but no one had to like it.

As they shackled Heero preparing to take him to prison, he realized that the chains were plain steel not gundanium. He raised an eyebrow but kept his mouth shut. He wasn't about to cause any trouble. If he stayed out of trouble and kept a low profile he could serve his sentence with a minimum of aggravation. All he wanted to do was serve his sentence and go back to his friends.

"Hey you're puttin' that kid on the wrong bus. Get him over here. The bus to Fitzroy is leaving now."

The clerk took one look at Heero and shunted him to what he assumed was the right bus.

"Damnit, you almost put him on the bus to Hellcreek. They don't take juveniles. Hey kid, how old are you?"

Heero saw no need to lie. "I'm almost seventeen. Are you sure that's not the right bus?"

"Yeah. I'm sure. That facility isn't set up to take persons under twenty-one. You nearly wound up at a maximum security facility for repeat felons. Not a nice place to be. I can't find your paperwork. What's your name?"

"Yuy, Heero. I don't have a citizen number." Heero wondered what was going on. The clerk was shuffling through a small pile of manila folders and mumbling to himself. This wasn't going the way he thought it should. They seemed to be completely disorganized.

"Heero . . . Heero. Damnit, I can't find it. Well, I'll have to send the paper work after you. I can't find a file on you. You get a citizen number after you get to Fitzroy. You hear me boy?"

"Yes, sir. I'll see to it as soon as they let me. Thank you. Sir."

"Martin, you see to it that he doesn't get in any trouble for not having papers. The problem is on this side. All I can find are papers on the Gundam Terrorist, Yuy, and we don't have a body to go along with them."

Heero started to say something, then he saw the clerk wink at him. Something was defiantly going on here, but he wasn't going to complain. Sooner or later they would catch up to him, but anytime he could spend in a minimum security facility for juveniles instead of a maximum security prison for hard cases was a blessing. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Heero slept on the bus, dreaming of freedom and Duo. The man who woke him up unknowingly saved his own life. Instead of touching Heero he slapped his clip board against the cage wall between the driver and the body of the bus.

Heero woke with a start but sense no one was touching him he had a chance to glare around and wake up.

He quickly got to his feet and at the mans gesture, walked to the gate and waited as he was unshackled and checked in.

"Where's your papers? Don't tell me you actually managed to get here without paperwork. All I've got is this transport order." The Clerk grumbled in disgust. "That's the third time this week. Juvies don't get any respect at all. And I'm not about to ask you what your crimes were. You boys lie like a rug. So."

"I don't lie. I was convicted of crimes against society and . . . "

The clerk interrupted Heero, "Damnit. Crimes against society. They couldn't get any more general? What'd you do TP the court house? Well, never mind. The papers will catch up with you sooner or later. Mean while my name is Distler. I'll start you a jacket and we'll manage until then. What's your citizen number?"

"I'm sorry sir. I don't have one. I never got to apply. I'm an orphan."

Heero decided that it wasn't a lie. He didn't remember parents and didn't know if they were alive or not. Then he clamped his mouth shut. He was going to follow one of Duo's cardinal rules. Never tell 'the man' more than he asks. Because even a fish wouldn't get caught if it'd just keep its mouth shut. Don't volunteer shit" It really wasn't that hard, his natural reticence had been reinforced until Duo claimed that he was practically pre-verbal.

"Damnit, well now we know why you didn't get papers. Without a citizen number no one can keep track of you. Here I'll issue you one right now. You'd be surprised how many of you kids come in here without one. Now let's see. . . . Ok, how about 01-023456-0102? It's easy to remember."

Heero nearly smiled. "Yes, sir that's fine. Does that mean I now have a real identity all my own?"

"Sure does kid. And if you keep your nose clean, it'll be clear after you serve your sentence. At your age they'll seal your records, and the only one's who can access them will be government agencies. If you decide to try to go into certain professions, most of which I don't think you would be interested in. But there you are."

"Thank you, sir. I really appreciate all your help. I hope that I didn't cause you too much trouble." Heero nodded to the man and, taking a small rectangle of cardboard with his name and new CID number on it, started out the door behind the guard.

NAME: Heero Winner-Yuy

CITIZEN NUMBER: 01-023456-0102

Heero started to turn back, this wasn't right, the transport papers had been changed.Quatre, you little sneak Heero allowed himself a smile. A very small one, but still a smile.

"Come on, boy. I'd like to get you checked in as soon as possible. It's my daughters birthday and my wife will skin me if I'm late." The guard motioned to Heero impatiently. He didn't want to get into a confrontation with this grim faced boy, but he didn't want a lecture from his wife either.

"I'm sorry, Sir" Heero tucked his new ID card into the breast pocket of his shirt and hurried to catch up.

He was issued four changes of clothes, all the same: jeans, dark green t-shirts, white under shorts, white socks, a single pair of sturdy boots and a denim barn jacket with a zip in liner. Everything was marked with his new ID number, even his boots. He was surprised to find out that the man behind the supply counter actually cared about wether the things fit or not.

"If those boots don't fit you come back and get the right size. I don't want your Bossman chewing my ass out because you got blisters. My name is Cooper. I'm the supply clerk. You need anything from pencils to whatever. I'm your man."

Heero nodded, he had both arms full of clothing and bedding. He had also been given sheets and a blanket. "Thank you, sir. I'll remember that. What do I do with the clothes I'm wearing now?"

"Come on, boy, you're holding up production. You give me the shirt and pants so we can send them back to the court house. If I were you I'd forget to send the boots back, if they fit, that is."

The guard, who Heero was never to see again, led him to a cell and pointed to a single cot on one side of the room. "If I were you, I'd take the single. There's no one in with you right now so stake your claim to that side of the cell. This facility isn't over crowded. It's for first timers like you, and this area isn't a high crime area, so we don't suffer from over crowding like some of the facilities in more populated areas."

Heero just stood for a split second. He didn't want to undress in front of this man, he didn't like the feeling of vulnerability that undressing in front of a grown man gave him.

"Look kid, we all got one and I've seen it all. But if you're shy, ok, just toss them out the door. But hurry up will ya, my wife's gonna kill me if I'm late."

"Yes, of course. I"m sorry. Your daughter's birthday party." Heero hurriedly stripped off the clothing and tossed it out the door, which the guard locked.

"Thanks yourself kid. Get some rest, it's late. They'll bring you some food soon. If I were you I'd go to sleep, you've got a long day ahead of you."

Heero made his bed and sat on it for a little while, listening to the sounds of the facility around him. It was fairly quite. He didn't hear any voices, but a glance at the clock set into the wall over the door, indicated that it was almost 10:00 PM. A loud speaker began an announcement.

"Ten Pee Emm. Lights out. Noise curfew in effect."

"What do you mean, he's lost in the system? He's supposed to be in Hellcreek. Where the hell could he be. I want that Gundam maniac found. Don't you realize what he could do if he escapes? He's more dangerous than all four of the others put together. He's a terrorist's terrorist. With his attitude you should be able to track him by the complaints alone."

The Prosecuting Attorney, who'd pushed Heero's conviction through in order to make a name for himself and secure a high profile conviction, was beside himself. He couldn't believe they had actually managed to lose a prisoner. Especially this one.

"I better call Mr. Winner. He payed for the defense so I guess he has the right to know." Muttering in disgust, the PA made the call.

"Quatre Raberba Winner! I'd like to know just exactly what you're up to."

"Dear friend, I have no idea what you are referring to." Quatre smiled his sweetest smile, the one he used when he'd been up to something especially sneaky.

"Where's Duo? Better get everyone in here so I don't have to repeat myself." Wufei couldn't believe the call from the PA, something was up and he wasn't sure he liked it.

Looking around at the other pilots Chang Wufei dropped the bomb without hesitation. "Heero Yuy has disappeared. He hasn't escaped." Wufei gave Duo time to calm down, his initial reaction was to jump to his feet and go find Heero."he's lost in the system. He was sent to the wrong facility, but no one can figure out which one."

Duo wrung his braid between his fists. "But that means that we can't . . . How can you lose a whole person. That's just stupid."

Trowa smiled slightly. "If he went where I think he did, he'll be fine. There were only two buses leaving the court house. If he isn't in Hellcreek, I think I know where he is."

"Ok Tro-man, tell us where he is. I want to go visit him as soon as I can." Duo was beginning to get frantic, he needed to see Heero, make sure he was all right. He couldn't convince himself that someone hadn't beaten him or something.

"Sorry Duo, I think we'd better do some very clandestine checking before we queer his cover. He's going to be much better off where I think he is and I don't want to bust him You'll just have to be patient."

Quatre spoke up then and surprised them all.

"I have something to say and I don't want any arguments from any of you. Especially you two." Quatre turned to Duo and Wufei, giving them a very rare stern look. He didn't usually even frown, so when he bent a look like that on them they knew he meant business.

"I have made arrangements for you all to work for Winner Enterprises. I made some very sub rosa arrangements with the Preventers. Heero took the fall for all of us but I still had to assure Relena that you would all have jobs and places to live. She wouldn't have pulled the strings she did otherwise. She's really furious that Heero was the odd man out, I think she was counting on getting her hooks into him. So we have to tread very lightly for a while. A long while. If you get caught hacking . . . well, all I can say is; don't."

Duo just blinked at Quatre, Trowa slid an arm around his shoulders and Wufei nodded. "Duo it's going to be hardest on you. You aren't qualified for much that my company needs. I know you wanted to start a salvage business, but you just can't; not now and maybe not ever. Heero sacrificed himself so we could have this chance, so you can't blow it. Wufei is going to be my head of security. Trowa, what do you want to do?"

Duo interrupted before Trowa could open his mouth. "If Woofers is head of security, I can be second in command, can't I?"

"Don't call me Woofers. You can't be second in command, the man who's place I took has that job. However, I'm head of corperate security. Quatre needs a personal security team and you will head it."

"That only leaves me. What do I do?" Trowa was really just happy to be near Quatre. He didn't care much what he did.

"You are going to be my personal assistant. The idiot I have now insists on treating me like I'm ten and don't have any brains at all."

Quatre looked uncomfortable, squirming in his chair.

"Guys? There's something else I have to tell you." When he was sure he had their attention he found that words were hard to come by.

Duo broke the silence, his fear filled question left them all flabbergasted. "What? What else is wrong? Which one of us are they going to sacrifice next?"

Wufei put a hand on his shoulder and Trowa couldn't help but go to embrace Quatre.

"Oh shit! I knew it, they're after me next, aren't they? Q-man, you can arrange it so I'm with him, can't you?"

"Maxwell calm down, didn't Quatre just tell you that you are head of his personal security team? Quatre, tell us what is wrong before Maxwell has a heart attack."

Quatre sighed, "Damnit Duo, quit jumping to conclusions like that. I can't take it. It's not bad news. It's just . . . weird. One of the conditions of our bargain was . . . well . . . ummm." Trowa smacked Quatre on the back of the head.

"What the hell is it? What are you dancing around? Come on spill it before we all have a spasm or something."

"We have to go to school."

Chang Wufei took a deep breath, then he started to laugh. His laughter immediately started Quatre laughing. Quatre's laughter is like some drug. If Quatre really laughed everyone around him laughed too.

Trowa finally wound down enough to gasp, "Well, hell. School? Oh, my." which started everyone off again.

When they'd laughed themselves out Quatre explained that he'd made arrangements with a local private school for them to go a half day. Since he had Winner Enterprises to take care of that was all the time he could spare and he'd arraigned for them all to take the necessary placement tests here at the house.

"They are actually being quite accommodating. I was afraid we'd have to waste at least two days enrolling and taking tests. But we get to take the placement tests here, on our own computers. The proctor will just check to see that we haven't pre-loaded anything. I know you all don't want anyone handling your personal laptop so I bought identical virgin machines for us to use."

"Q-man, if anyone ever saw the stuff I have in my computer I'd be in real trouble. I'm really glad we managed to hide mine, never mind Heero's. And as for that bunch of stuffed shirts from the school being accommodating. For what you're undoubtedly paying them they ought to be."

Trowa and Wufei couldn't help agreeing with Duo, but neither one of them wanted to encourage Duo's feelings of persecution. No matter how justified they were.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Winner-Yuy, you're wanted in the Headmasters' office. Come on, I'll show you where it is."

Heero had been sitting in a small common room situated at the end of his wing. The tv was set to an educational channel and he'd actually been enjoying a show about national parks. He'd hidden in two of them but had never gotten to see any of the wonders that were there. It was hard to look at waterfalls and big trees when you were running for your life.

The officer showed Heero to the office and left him with a reassuring smile.

"Come in young man. I'm sorry to tell you this." Heero's face froze. They had figured out where he was supposed to be. "Hey, don't look like that, I'm sorry I scared you. It's just that; since your records haven't caught up with you, we have to have you take all the SAT's and ACT tests again. We need to have them in the records for your teachers."

Heero performed a quick calming routine and then what he'd been told sunk in.

"SAT"s ACT, Teachers. Excuse me sir but what _are_ you talking about?"

"School! You didn't think you were going to get out of attending school did you?" The Headmaster had experience with boys who thought that they got out of school because they were in a Juvenile Detention Center.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I never thought I'd have the privilege of going to school." Heero actually did like school. When he'd hidden out at a boarding school the only thing he'd disliked about it was dealing with Relena, and living with Duo. He'd since changed his mind about Duo.

"Well, I'm glad to find out you feel that way. Most boys your age in this situation seem to think that they are exempt from the educational requirements of this country. Now Mr. Yuy-Winner, I know you want to get started as soon as possible. The school year starts in less than a week and we have a new influx of boys coming in three days. So I'd like you to take as many tests as you can today, and finish up tomorrow. The Counselor will take you to the school wing and get you started. You'll eat in the cafeteria today. Oh, and here is the rule book. It's fairly easy to read. There aren't that many rules. Just look at it this way, as my son puts it; if it's fun, don't do it."

"I see. I'm sure the rules are fair. I'll read this tonight and, Sir? I really want to stay out of trouble. I've had enough for several lifetimes. I just want to serve my sentence and go back to my friends." Heero gave the Headmaster a look that on any other boy would have qualified as stony.

"Well, I hope you realize that sometimes your friends are the one's who get you into the trouble. Pick your friends with care and they will last you a lifetime. Be careless and they can be more trouble than they are worth. I don't know your friends, so I can't judge, just remember what I said. Go along now and start on your tests. Do the best you can and don't worry. These aren't graded remember. We just need them in your files so we know what classes to put you in."

Heero followed the Counselor to the school wing. As he walked along, he cased the school, scanning the security and analyzing the layout for weaknesses; looking for the easiest way out. When he realized what he was doing he stopped himself. He wasn't leaving; even though he could have walked out of the grounds without any trouble.

"Well Mr. Winner-Yuy, here you are. The computer is all set up, all you have to do is wiggle the mouse and it'll start the first test. After you finish any page push page up, finish a test and push enter. If you have any problems or questions I'll be across the hall."

Heero eyed the computer for a moment and then sat down and began the first test. He couldn't believe that they were all multiple choice. All he had to do was eliminate two of the answers as totally wrong and that left a correct answer, the only questions he had any trouble with were the language skills questions where all answers were right. All of the above just didn't seem a good answer to anything.

He felt it took him quite a while to finish the tests but he hoped he could squeeze a little more time out of the situation. He hacked the system and searched for his files on the local net. There wasn't much, only a comment from the intake people that he seemed cooperative and subdued. He searched farther and found that his records from the court house were corrupted and all the information available was the actual crime and sentence. As he read he realized, if you didn't know he was a Gundam Pilot, it looked like he'd gotten drunk and run over someone or gotten into a fight and accidentally killed them.

Heero looked at the clock, he'd been taking tests for more than four hours, he wondered how long it was supposed to take to finish. Just then the Counselor popped his head in the door asking Heero if he needed a break.

"No sir, I'm fine. Could I ask how long I've got to take the tests? I wouldn't want to fail because I went over time."

"Danmit, how many times do I have to tell you kids. These tests aren't pass/fail. They test your levels. The amount of actual knowledge you've managed to acquire. And you've got as long as it takes. They used to time them but decided that it put too much pressure on you." The Counselor took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you, but I really get tired of telling you kids the same things over and over. I"m going to get lunch, you can come with me or finish testing. I don't think I have to worry about you cheating. Just stay here in this room or in the restroom across the hall. Don't go wandering around. You're still in isolation."

Heero wondered about that, but this place was so disorganized he couldn't believe it. He was more familiar with Oz prisons, where he'd been escorted in gundanium manacles by several large guards. That hadn't been that much different from his training, most of the guards and technicians at the training facility had been afraid of him and he'd been kept to a fiercely regimented routine.

Well. Let me see what else I can find out. It seems that I have plenty of time.

Heero searched for the secure mail boxes they'd used during the war. He checked them out to see if they'd been tampered with, especially to see if they'd been flagged. They seemed to be abandoned, but he hoped that Duo would check them from habit. Maybe not regularly but he prayed that Duo wouldn't completely abandon old habits. He left a message in a code so secure that only Duo had any hope of understanding it.

"Excuse me Sir. I'm done with my tests. What should I do now?" Heero stood at ease before the Counselor and waited for further orders.

"Relax kid you look like a new recruit or something. Let me see. I don't think you've taken everything. It hasn't taken you long enough." The man tapped on his key board and then yelped. "Shit. You shouldn't have rushed it so much. Well there isn't much I can do about it now. I'll run the damn thing and you'll just have to take the consequences."

While he waited for the grading to be completed Heero pulled the rule book out of his pocket and started reading through it. By the time he was finished with it he would know it all by heart. He didn't intend to be tripped up by some minor infraction of an obscure rule, he'd be damned if he ruined his chance because he was ignorant of the rules.

"I don't know how you did it, but these are some of the best scores I've seen in a long time. You scored perfect in all the sciences, but you have some amazing gaps in your knowledge of liberal arts. Your language skills are adequate, but when it comes to literature you're appallingly ignorant. And your slant on current events gives me chills. All in all however, I'm quite pleased."

"Thank you, Sir. I'm glad you're pleased." Heero was looking forward to returning to his room because he had quite a bit to think about, but instead of being allowed to return to his room, he had an unpleasant surprise.

"Danmit, he's been here eighteen hours already. What do you mean I've got to do an intake search? Look at him. He came in alone instead of in a bunch of other kids. He's cooperative so I really don't want to piss him off. Can't we skip it?" Guard Sargent Evans hated doing this, it made him feel like a pervert or a child molester. He hadn't liked doing it when he'd been working in an adult prison; now he really hated it.

"Look Evans, I choose you to do this because you treat the kids with consideration. You don't just yank them around so you can get it over with. I think there is more to this kid than meets the eye so I'd like you to really be gentile with him, and don't scare him when you fill out the questionnaire. Get going and get it over with for both your sakes. OK?"

Captain Francois had gone into Juvenile for the same reason many did. He wanted to be of help to kids who had a chance to make a difference in their lives. Parts of his job were repugnant to him, and everyone else who did the job, but they had to be done so they tried to take turns. And it was Evans's

Evans looked at the boy he was going to be dealing with and shuddered, damnit he was 5'9" or there abouts, smaller than average for his age. A messy mop of chocolate hair hung down in cobalt blue eyes. A look at Heero's eyes was what had made Evans shudder, they were as hard and cold as a glacier, set in a blank face that seemed to defy any expression. Evans pasted a smile on his face and walked into the lions' den.

"Hello. My name is Evans, I'm a Guard Sargent, you will address me as Sargent Evans, not Sarg or Shithead or any of the other terms you kids think are so funny."

Heero braced to the tone of voice. That tone usually meant they were going to do something unpleasant and probably painful to him.

"Sir, Yes, Sir."

Sargent Evans eyed the boy for a minute, the records clearly stated that he was a first timer, but the address indicated that he had been in some kind of paramilitary school.

"You ever been incarcerated before? If you have, I want to know where."

"No sir. I've never been . . . well except for . . . not legally. I'm sorry sir. I'm not really sure how to answer."

Heero didn't know if they would think time as a prisoner of Oz counted. He'd never been sentenced so he wasn't sure. He hated not being able to answer a question directly, it had never been a good thing.

"Well, I'm not going to start something. Maybe there's a reason for some of your records to be missing, have you been expressly forbidden to tell us anything?"

Evans had a bad feeling about this hard eyed boy. He looked like he'd been through things that Evans didn't want to know about. But here he was going to ask questions he didn't want the answers to.

"Come with me. The first thing I have to do is a contraband search. You won't like it. I hate doing it. So let's just cooperate with each other and get it done with."

Heero winced. He'd been through body cavity searches before and hated them. It hurt, it was humiliating and in this case, unnecessary. He'd cooperate until the man hurt him, then he was getting uncooperative quickly. He didn't want trouble but he was tired of being hurt by men in uniforms.

Evans opened the door to the examination room. It was small and crammed with medical equipment. It also had that smell, medicinal with an undertone of disinfectant and something Heero had never been able to put his finger on.

He froze in the door for a second, then with a deep breath to steady himself, entered the room and turned to the Sargent, waiting for further orders.

"Strip and give me your clothes. I'll search them then fold them up, put on this examination gown and sit on the table." As the Sargent talked Heero striped, Evans accepted Heero's clothing and squeezed each piece not even bothering to turn out the pockets.

Heero turned to pick up the well-washed cotton gown, before he could don it a gagging sound behind him made him whirl around. Evans was standing with his hand over his mouth looking very green.

"What the hell happened to you. Damnit, I've never seen scars like that before."

"Oh. Well, I kinda got blown up." Heero had never been very vocal, in fact he'd done more talking in the last three months than in all his life before. But Duo had nagged him and nagged him. 'Ro ya gotta talk to the nice men. If ya don't, they think you're bein' stubborn, that ain't gonna do the rest of us any good. Come on, spill your guts for the greater good. So he'd finally gotten at least a little more open.

"Blown up. Shit, I know I don't want to know. I gotta ask. But it'll wait until we get the search done with." Sargent Evans put on rubber gloves and turned to a suddenly shaking Heero. "Look boy I know you want to resist me. I don't blame you, but this is getting done one way or another. I'll do it all myself, or there can be as many as it takes to hold you while it gets done. Don't make a fuss. Come on."

Heero put on his most stoic look and waited. Finally, after staring at Evans for what seemed forever, he had to ask for instructions.

"Excuse me Sir. I'm sorry but I don't know what to do. I've never . . . "

Evans blinked at Heero then instructed him to sit on the table. When Heero was sitting, Evans proceeded to examine his mouth, ears and nose. Then he ran his hands through Heero's hair and looked at his scalp. Then he had him extend each foot in turn and spread his toes.

"OK now for the part I hate. Get on your knees on the table. Don't tense up because that'll just make it hurt. If it hurts you, let me know and I'll give you some time to try to relax. I use plenty of lube, but if you can't relax it'll hurt anyway."

Heero cooperated, kneeling on hands and knees on the table and trying to relax. He knew it was going to hurt, it always did because he just couldn't relax. He just wasn't uke period.

Heero grunted as Evans slid a very well lubricated finger into his anus. It hurt, burning like it always did. Of course he supposed fighting like a fury wouldn't have helped things much.

"Look kid, You've got to relax. I can't not do this. I didn't believe some of the stuff you kids stick up there. So I gotta make sure you didn't bring in a bazooka or something." Evans made a joke, hoping to lighten the moment.

"Well, you can't get a full sized bazooka in a mans anus but I believe you could secret a micro launcher there." Heero considered the question seriously for a second then realized that it had been intended as a joke. "Sorry, I don't have much of a sense of humor at the best of times. I can't relax, so just do it and get it over with. I won't die from a little pain."

"Yeah, well while you were yappin' I got it over with. Clean up and get dressed. I hate this room, it's claustrophobic, I'll do the interview in the Doctors office. Want a soda?"

Heero blinked once, for him that was about as surprised an expression as you were going to get.

"Yes please. I'd like a cola, if I could."

He got a disgusted look from Sargent Evans.

"Boy, you're gonna talk my ears off. What kind of cola? We're a progressive institution. We've got every kind of cola there is."

Talk to the nice man. Don't clam up. They think you're being insolent.

"I'm partial to Cherry Coke. Thank you"

Sargent Evans brought two sodas to the office. After opening them and handing Heero his Cherry Coke he sat down behind a desk and opened a file.

"We've got very little on you. Just charges and sentence. And I don't think they're right. So I've got a battery of questions and . . . shit, I forgot about the damn pictures. Well, I'm not havin' you strip again We'll take them some other time."

Heero actually made a face. Not much of one but a tiny pooch of his lover lip alerted Evans.

"Look, I know you may be embarrassed, but we got to have pictures. They go in your file and no on sees them but the Headmaster, the Captain, and who ever takes them. We only use them if you escape and we need to put out an APB. You don't intend to escape do you?"

"No sir I don't. I'd like you to make a notation in my file that at this point all I want to do is serve out my sentence with as little trouble as possible and get back to my friends. Don't give me trouble and I won't pay it back." Heero didn't know how he looked but all Evans could do was stare at a boy who had gone from a rather pleasant expression to a frozen faced, dead eyed glare. Don't haul out the Death Glare from Hell unless it's really important and especially don't let the adults see it.

Evans took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't know about that. We don't start anything with our students so there's no need for that high BTU stare. I'm gonna ask every question on these pages. If you can't answer any of them don't worry, I've never had anyone answer them all."

"Parents names:"

"Don't know."

"Next of kin:"

"None."

"Schools attended:"

"None."

"Last address:"

"Homeless."

"Danmit boy!"

"I"m sorry Sir. I'm truly not trying to be difficult."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have exploded like that. I just hate it when I get kids like you. No parents, no home, can't go to school, and then they wonder why you turn out the way you do."

If he'd seen some of my training, I wonder what he'd do.

"Ok. Ever been arrested?"

"No."

"Ever been held for questioning?"

"Yes."

"Now we're getting somewhere. By whom?"

"Oz."

"Damnit. I don't want to know, do I?"

"No, you really don't. I'll only say this once. I was captured several times by Oz. They questioned me extensively in a number of unpleasant and painful ways. I didn't break."

"I really didn't need that mental picture. Were you with a counter Alliance group?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, that's all I can tell you. It's classified, and I'd rather not be in any more trouble than I am already." don't ever lie. It's too easy to loose track. Just tell part of the truth. Misdirection works better that out right lying

"Fuck! I know I don't want to ask the next question. Have you ever been sexually abused?"

"Yes."

"Damnit! How many times? Do I have to pry my answers out of you with a crow bar?"

"I'm not sure, do you count by incidences of abuse or by number of men. I'm doing my best so I'd really appreciate it if you didn't hit me with a crow bar." Heero had no idea that Evans was exaggerating for effect. He really expected the man to get a crow bar and beat him with it.

"God damn it to hell in a hand cart. Mother fucking Oz bastards. Shit. " Evans threw his clip board on the floor. He wasn't doing this

"I'm calling the Head. I'm not equipped to deal with this shit. All it makes me want to do is kill someone slowly." Turning to Heero he snarled, "How fuckin' old were you . . . say . . . the first time."

"Fifteen."

Heero was beginning to feel decidedly threatened, the man looked like an Ozzie ready to drag the truth out of him by force majeure.

Evans slammed the desk drawer, nearly getting himself killed.

Heero already tense, reacted to the loud bang badly. His first impulse was to kill Evans and run, his second was to knock him out and run, his third was to hang on and hope he was mistaken. The result of this barrage of different impulses was that Heero grabbed Evans by the head ready to snap his neck, then he let go and wound up huddled in a corner, shivering in adrenalin reaction.

"I'm calling the Headmaster. I can't deal with this." Evans reached for the phone on the desk only to have Heero latch on to his wrist Careful, don't break anything. They don't know how strong you are

"NO! I"m sorry. I don't deal well with sudden loud noises, especially when I'm tense in the first place. I don't need trouble, first thing." Heero let go before he bruised the man. Sticking his shaking hand into his pocket. "Please Sargent Evans, I'm sorry."

"Look son. You're not in any trouble. What with a body cavity search, a new place, a bunch of tests and whatever else is going on; I just don't think I'm qualified to work with you. You act like my brother. He was with a strike team and he's all messed up. Jumps like a girl at the stupidest things."

"Yes sir, but living like I have, it was combat. I've got the reactions of a soldier. And what you may see as stupid he sees as a threat. I also react really badly to being shaken awake. Might put that down somewhere."

Evans decided to let it slide, he'd talk to the therapist himself and clue the Captain in, there was decidedly more to this kid than met the eye. I wonder if he was one of those poor boys that Oz used as mules for contraband.

Evans got Heero to the cafeteria in time to eat. He scanned the cafeteria quickly, locating the exits and noting that the high windows weren't barred. Stop that, you're not going anywhere so quit finding escape routes

"How many prisoners are there? How many guards?" Heero couldn't believe he'd just asked such questions.

"We're a small facility. This area doesn't have much juvenile crime and it's mostly petty stuff. You know . . . well, maybe you don't. Grand theft auto is about the worst we get. So we have, at most, sixty boys of various ages. We keep each age group pretty much to themselves. Saves trouble in the long run. There are twelve boys in your age group here now and two more on the way. When they get here, you'll have to share your room with one room mate. As to support personnel. The ratio is fifteen to one"

Heero looked at Evans in stunned surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Fifteen boys to each guard." Evans smirked, he'd finally gotten a rise out of this stoic boy.

Evans abandoned Heero to his own devices, forgetting completely that he was supposed to be sequestered for another day. Heero joined the line at the service bar and found that he could have anything he wanted and there were plenty of choices, all he had to do was point. Choosing a well rounded, nourishing meal he sat down and began to eat.

While he was getting his food and seating himself, the other twelve boys in his age group were checking him out. Of course he noticed immediately but decided to wait for them to come to him. 'Ro, just because they look at you don't mean they're gonna give ya a hard time. Wait for it. Let it come to you.

"Hey, New Boy. You gonna eat that desert?" One of the boys came over to Heero and tried to start trouble.

"Yes. I'm going to eat that, and everything else on my tray." Heero looked at the boy who had just reached for his piece of pie. The look promised hell on earth and stopped the boy cold.

"Shit, un . . . look, I don't want any trouble. I just . . ." The boy wound down quickly.

"You just wanted to see how tough I am and if I would knuckle under to you. Well, I won't. I'm no one's butt monkey. I don't want trouble, so don't start anything and I won't have to finish it."

Heero turned back to his food and dismissed the intrusive boy from his mind. He didn't even notice when he walked away shaking his head.

"Don't mess with that one. He's more that we can handle all together. He's tough and has that look. He'll kill you and not even blink. Don't threaten him and we won't have problems with him."

All the other boys looked at Heero, wondering what he had really done. His jacket was lost in the system, so they'd heard. And a lost jacket was mostly a good thing. If your jacket got lost, the officials generally thought it was so minor that it wasn't worth looking up. They just called the court house and asked for a final sentence and went on from there. If he hadn't had that look they would have tried to make him a gofer. Now all they wanted was a minimum of trouble from Stone Cold Winner-Yuy.

"Duo I don't know if we're going to be able to pull this off. Every time I try to do anything I find that . . . man checking me. It's going to make me lose my temper and you know that's not good."

"Wufei, just go with the flow, let the asshole check you. It won't hurt you and he'll get bitten in the ass. Just let me trap your computer. If he actually tries to access your files he'll get a nasty suprise and his motherboard will fry. I guarantee it."

Duo happily took Wufei's laptop and down loaded a trap that he had put on his computer. He'd also put it in the main fraim of Winner Enterpirses computer. It triggered an overload in the power suply which spiked the power and fried the cercuitry if you were authorized for access the lurker ignored your ping but if you wern't authorized you were in the market for a new computer.

"You sure this will work?"

"Woofers, you have no faith in my talents do you?"

"Maxwell, I have every bit of faith in the world in your abilities, but this isn't the slapped together mainframe of some Oz outpost. This is the best available on the market today."

Duo smirked, he was happy to inform Wufei of all the failings of the system ending, "so they put too much reliance on the fact that it is the newest and best and they arn't paranoid enough. That system was easier to hack than a brand new notebook. I didn't even have to haul out the big guns. I'm really kinda scared. The security isn't up to standards either."

Wufei snorted and started reviewing the reports that Duo had downloaded into his computer.he had a lot to do to get Winner Enterprise computers up to what any of them would consider safe standards. Better to be parinoid and not need to be than to have some of the more sensitive information pirated. Industrial espionage was rampant at the higher levels and could cost a company millions if not billions especially if a new design or soft ware was stolen.

When they went to report to Quatre they ran into Trowa who smirked at them and hautily informed them that they had to have an apointment.

And who died and made you god?" Duo wasn't in the mood and Wufei's dirty look backed him up

Quatre, remember I'm his executive assistant. You can go in anytime. It would be helpful if you'd call ahead though so I can put off his next appointment until you're done with him."

They all congregated in the meeting room with Quatre taking his usual place at the head of the table where he listned to Wufei and Duo explain about th omputer and told them to do whatever they wanted to do concluding "After all you are heads of departments. You report to me you don't ask me for permission to do your jobs. Just rember we have to go to school all aftenoon every day."

The moans and groans that greeted this made him laugh. The others wound up laughing too. They were unaware of the differences between what they experieced and what Heero did.


	2. Chemistry 101

Chemistry 101

Authors Notes: Several of you have remarked on the quality of the prison. This is not technically a prison, it's a juvenile detention facility. Most of these are run on a boarding school type organization. Unless the juvenile is a real danger, i.e. has committed a violent crime of some sort, or are a second time offender, they are usually sent to open campus type detention facilities. Heero, since his records were fudged to a fair thee well, wound up at one of these. The idea in these facilities is rehabilitation/retraining not punishment. The 'students' are expected to learn to behave in an acceptable manner and encouraged to continue in studies and learn a trade or occupation. (Sort of boot camp with benefits.)

/thoughts/

Duo nagging

Duo sighed, chemistry class. This was just weird. He knew more about chemistry than anybody his age needed to. He could make a very effective bomb from farm chemicals.

"Mr. Maxwell! Mr. Maxwell, do I need to repeat the question?"

"Uh . . . yes sir. I'm sorry, my mind wandered." Duo jerked his attention back to the teacher's lecture.

"Yes, well wandering minds lead to low grades. Pay attention. The question was what will happen when I drop this quantity of this chemical into this beaker."

Duo eyed the beaker and felt sick, he knew that the teacher wasn't going to believe him when he told him what was going to happen but he tried.

"It's gonna make a hell of an explosion, probably take out most of the room. If you really are gonna do that I'm outa here. Bye."

"Mr. Maxwell, are you implying that I don't know my business?"

"No sir. I'm implying that you're no math teacher. That quantity indicates that you've misplaced a decimal. Move the decimal one place to the left and it'll be ok."

Duo went out into the hall. He didn't know what to do. That teacher was going to get several of the kids in the room seriously hurt. He might even kill himself and one or two closer students.

/Damn. What do I do? I can't just walk off, but he's not gonna believe me. I'm _just a kid . . ._ this sucks/

"Mr. Maxwell, what are you doing in the hall? Not in trouble your first week are you?"

Duo looked at the Headmaster for a minute then made a decision, hoping he was right.

"I just left on my own. The teacher won't listen to me because I"m just a kid. But he's made a mistake in his math and he's gonna get himself and a bunch of others hurt. That's way too much magnesium. Its gonna explode all over everything."

Just then several other students left the room also. They didn't like the look of the experiment either and had decided to take the chance that the Headmaster would only give them detention if Duo was wrong.

The sudden explosion was stronger than Duo had expected. It blew out the window in the class room door, scattering glass across the hall. It also blew out the outside windows in a shower of glass and wood.

The screams reminded Duo way too much of a battle field. He headed into the room and started triage

"Here, young man. Get out of here. We have to wait for the EMT's."

"Damnit! We can't wait! You're gonna have at least three casualties if we don't do something right now. Get me the first aid kit and get outta my way."

Just then two teachers arrived. Both of them had EMT training and took over from Duo without making a big fuss. Duo watched for a moment and seeing that they really did know what they were doing satisfied himself with playing fetch and carry.

"Here, you need a bigger pack than that. I'll run down to the nurses office and get more dressings. We got to get that bleeding stopped, quick."

The Head master watched Duo, he wondered exactly how this young friend of Quatre Winner had learned so much about first aid. He was going to put a note in his file so they would know he had first aid training. It could be important sometime.

Duo meanwhile was shuttling first aid supplies from the nurse's office as needed. And trying not to have major flash backs. The sight and smell of blood was getting to him, big time.

Quatre ran up from clear across the campus. He'd heard the explosion, Trowa and Wufei weren't far behind him.

"Duo, what the hell happened here?"

" Aw . . . Trowa that Chemistry teacher can't do math he used way too much mag and blew the chem. lab up. We got casualties all over. I think he may have killed himself. Shit!"

Duo covered his face with a bloody hand, he thought he'd never have to do triage again. So much for after the wars.

Wufei turned to the nearest adult. Waiting until he had the man's attention he asked if they couldn't take Duo away.

"He is having trouble with all the blood. He's got it on his hands and it's upsetting him. I'd like to take him away and get him washed up. If that's ok with you, Sir."

"Yes, yes, that's a good idea. He doesn't need to be here. It's not something children should see. Take him away and get him cleaned up. He'll need to see the school counselor tomorrow."

"No Sir, he has a counselor and I'll make sure he speaks to her about this. Thank you for letting us take him away."

Wufei gathered Duo up and took him into the restroom at the far end of the hall and washed his hands and face. Duo didn't object, even thought most boys his age would have had a fit. He was just glad he had someone to help him. The comfort of having Wufei help him get clean and away from the mess was worth a little embarrassment.

"Fei? Thanks. Really."

"Don't call me Fei. My name is Wufei. Welcome. Come on, Quatre sent Trowa for the car. We're leaving for the day."

Wufei guided Duo away to the car and they all went home to hot chocolate and biscotti. Duo had a session with his therapist and felt much better. They all talked to the therapist.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is there a problem Mr. Winner-Yuy?"

"Yes sir. I believe there is a small one. Did you check your math? I'm not trying to be impertinent, but I believe that you are using too much Magnesium."

The teacher was tired. He'd taught the same class since 7 a.m. and had decided to teach a different one this time, it was all chemistry after all. Now here was this kid, telling him he'd made a mistake.

"Ok, if you're so sure. Why don't you prove your point? If I'm wrong, ok; if you're wrong, it's a detention for interrupting the class. "

"Very well. May I go to the front? I'll work on the green board so you may check my work."

"Sure, knock yourself out. Whatever."

Heero went to the front of the room and taking the marker started re figuring the proportions in the equation. The chemical formula was easy he'd known it as long as he could remember. In fact Odin Low had made him figure proportions until he could do it in his sleep, literally.

"So . . . here is where you made your mistake. The decimal place is one place too far to the right. If you used that much magnesium you'd blow the room to bits. It's not that hard to do, but the results can be disastrous. I'm sorry if I made you look bad."

"That's ok. I'd rather look bad than have that kind of mistake get by. You did good. I'm very glad to have someone with nerve like yours in my classes. Thank you for saving me from making a very bad mistake."

Heero eyed the teacher for a moment. Then gave him a slight nod and a 'hn' of approval. He was going to have to be more careful he knew. Most boys his age wouldn't have known that the experiment was dangerous but he really didn't want to be blown up. It would upset Duo no end.

"Well guys, you can thank Mr. Winner-Yuy for saving your asses. Did anyone else see that mistake? If you did, you'd better not fess up now cause I'll just think you're show boating. But if you did and just figured you'd let it slide remember this. I may be on the front line, but you're all in here too. An explosion of that size. Well I don't quite know . . . yes Mr. Winner-Yuy?"

"An explosion of the size generated by the amount of chemical you were working with would have killed everyone within a four-foot radius and decommissioned anyone within six feet, the chances of anyone escaping unscathed, 10 percent. "

Heero watched the other boys, all fourteen realized that they had narrowly escaped being seriously hurt. He knew that even the one's that knew it was going to be a larger blast than planned hadn't known how much bigger. /Well shit. Fish and mouth/

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"That Winner-Yuy boy knows things that I don't think a kid his age should."

"Headmaster, those street kids know all kinds of stuff. They talk to the people that hire them for mule jobs and some of those kids were Ozzie 'properties' so they are really screwed up. The things that happened to them would make a maggot puke. That boy was most likely picked up in a sweep of old Oz barracks and pushed though trial quickly. You know how they do juveniles, especially in these times."

"Still no jacket on him? Well, we'll just keep one from arrival on. We have his sentence chit and that's really all we need."

"No, we don't. We haven't gotten that either. All I know is he's been charged with crimes against society. So we're actually holding him illegally."

The Headmaster frowned, he had a bad feeling about this whole thing. Something was going on, he'd sent in a request for paper work on Winner-Yuy, Heero and gotten nothing back. In fact the response, while couched in bureaucratic blithering, had amounted to 'who?'.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

this chapter and the next are really short, I'm still getting a feel for the story. But the fourth chapter is shaping up to be a 'Sunhawk' chapter.


	3. Relena Rants

Relena rant

"I don't care. Just ignore it. He's going to be ok. And expediency is a bitch and a whore and a cheap one at that.

"We . . . no you, just wanted to throw them all away. The only reason you didn't is I wouldn't let you. You had to have a scape goat and Heero was it. Now you leave the others alone, in fact you forget that they exist."

Relena had been getting louder and louder as she ranted. She was usualy so lady like and calm but when it came to the Gundam pilots she was upset from the get go. Now she was practically screaming.

"Here. Take the papers and lose them. File them under File Thirteen."

No one could hear what the aid said but it must have been annoying to Relena as her reply was incendiary ending with, "Fuck that. I'm not a lady, I'm a royal and we're never crude, you jackass. Now anything else that crosses my desk about Heero Yuy is private and if you read or even open it you'll find yourself living in a box. Duo says it's better than the streets and he ought to know. Now get out."

Relena spent a few minutes rearranging her desk, something she did when she was in need of mindless soothing activity. While she did that she grumbled. "If I can't have him, Duo should. They're in love so bad it hurts. It's not fair. They tried so hard, fought so desperately. I'm making sure that they get every chance to have the best life they can. Damnit. I wish 'they' would just go away." She sat down and put her head in her hands, thinking hard.

When she was finished thinking the actions she took effectively deleted any mention of war crimes from each pilots records and most of the references in public records. What remained were mission specifications and a few veiled references to their treatment at the hands of Oz and White Fang.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Really, really short but all I wanted to do in this chapter is establish Relena's attitude. I don't believe in the psycho Relena. She's young, in lust, and used to getting what she wants. So she grew up a little.


	4. Campfires I

Disclaimer. I don't own Gundam Wing, Sotsue, Bandai and a bunch of other people do.

Campfires.

I had to change my emphasis marks as both Fan Fiction and Media Miner eat them.

/thoughts/

Duo nagging

O change of scene or time lapse (because those x's were getting old)

Camping Quatre style.

"Aw Q-man, I spent enough time in the woods. I hate all that fresh air shit."

"Duo it's completely different when you have all the necessities. A nice tent and sleeping bag, plus Wufei and Trowa are going. Come on it'll be fun."

Duo acquiesced, grumbling. He didn't want to go camping, he hated the bugs, dew, weird noises and anything that smacked of the miserable times he'd had hiding from Oz in the mountains. He wanted the comforts of indoors. Things like showers and TV and vids and, . . . well, everything that wasn't camping out.

But everyone else was going and he'd go too. He didn't want to be alone in the huge sprawling house Quatre had settled them in. He missed Heero; he missed him in bed, at breakfast, in school, every where he was, Heero was not. It hurt.

Trowa organized the trip and divided up the gear into packs for everyone. Each pack contained some of everything one tent and sleeping bag, food, water, matches, everyone had enough for everyone to make it two days. More if they needed to.

Wufei watched Duo struggle on the hike. He didn't seem to be enjoying himself; neither did Trowa. They both were uncomfortable, jumpy . . . something. Wufei couldn't quite figure out what was going on but he intended to.

Quatre didn't quite understand what the problem was either. He'd always enjoyed camping, it got him away from the constant importunities of his sisters and pressures from his father. He'd had the Mauganacs to take care of the details of camping until he'd been on his own once, then he'd found out that he could be self-sufficient. Camping always gave him a rush of satisfaction.

/Damn bugs. Damn underbrush. Damn woods. I hate this. I wanna go home. What if Heero leaves me an E-mail. If I don't answer it right away, he might not mail me again/ Duo tripped on a root and went sprawling, skinning one knee.

Wufei helped him up and took his pack. He supported Duo until he got his feet under himself and then got him to a log where he knelt down in front of the still cursing boy and began to gently probe his knee.

"It's not bad. Just a skin and a bruise. I'll put some of this cream on it and a bandage. There's no ice, so you'll just have to suffer with it. Come on. Hold still."

Trowa sniffed then looked around. He disappeared into the woods returning shortly with a billy can full of stream water, glacial melt, very cold and clear. Dipping a bandana in the can, he gave it to Wufei.

"Thanks, man. I really appreciate this. I hate the woods, I absolutely despise this. Ever since I spent all those days in the Rockys I just . . . ugh!" Duo shivered dramatically.

"Yeah, I'm not too fond of woods either. I spent some time in the Alps, but they weren't as bad as the Rockies. Man, it must have been bad."

Quatre listened in dismay. He hadn't thought to ask if everyone wanted to go camping, he'd just made arrangements and presented it as a fait accompli.

"Why didn't you tell me you don't like camping? I could have made other arrangements for our long week end. Well, it's too late now. We're committed. It will take more time to walk out than to walk in. We couldn't make it back before dark. I'm sorry. I guess I ruined our week end."

Duo looked at Wufei and Trowa, they looked as ashamed as he felt. Quatre always did everything he could to make sure that they had everything they needed. At least they could make sure he had fun on the only thing he'd looked forward to for a while.

"Hey Q-man, it's ok. I guess I'm just letting war time experiences ruin your fun. Just let me get my head into this a little more. Maybe when we get camp set up, I'll like it better. Just . . . I'm not eating anything that we didn't pack in. I mean that. I nearly poisoned myself with something in the Rockys, I'm not takin' chances this time."

Trowa just nodded and looked at Quatre. He'd do anything Quatre asked him to, no matter if he liked it or not. Quatre was everything to him and he was so grateful that they hadn't been separated like Heero and Duo that he was willing to do whatever was necessary to make him happy.

Wufei smiled at Quatre, he liked the blond boy very much. Quatre had always been very kind to him, putting up with him when he'd been in a bad mood, tolerating his kata at all hours of the day and night and comforting him when he'd failed a mission. So he was willing to camp as long as Quatre wanted, besides he liked camping.

"Quatre, I like camping. It's a good way to commune with nature, get a little time away from distractions of civilization. I'll find a nice place to meditate. I'm sure of it. You and I will set up camp and let these grumblers sit around. However, Duo, I'm sure you do need to rest that knee. It's going to bruise."

After several minutes of cold packs on Duo's knee they continued to the camp site. Duo insisted on carrying his pack, even though both Trowa and Wufei offered to carry it for him. When they reached the site, he flopped onto the ground and groaned. After a minute he put his foot on his pack.

"I'm gonna keep it elevated for a while, then I'll help set up camp. I'm not gonna be a drag, I promise."

Trowa started assembling the tent. They had one big tent that would hold them all, and each boy packed a small safety tent in case they needed it. The big tent was geodesic and made of the newest and best materials, a tent for four only weighed about a pound, poles and all. But it was still hard to put up, the size was the problem. It was like a parachute, every time the wind blew it wanted to take off. Until they got it pegged down it flapped like some odd bird.

Wufei watched Duo for a while but he seemed resigned to the camping. He wanted to comfort Duo but he knew it was impossible. Duo was almost like himself, laughing at his own jokes and anticking around, but when no one was looking he sagged wearily, looking sad and lost. His act was wearing very thin and Wufei dreaded what might happen when it finally frayed through.

Wufei helped Trowa set the tent, then they started on a fire pit while Quatre put out the sleeping bags and secured the food.

"Quatre, why are you hanging the food in that tree? I'm hungry. When are we going to have lunch, or dinner, whatever?"

Duo knew he sounded querulous, but he couldn't help it. Heero had said that the next time he went camping they would do it together, but Heero wasn't here and he wasn't camping out in some wilderness. Was he ever wrong.

"Duo this is bear country. We have to hang the food from a tree so the bears won't smell it and raid the camp to get to it."

"BEAR COUNTRY! Damnit, if I'd known that, I sure wouldn't have come. It's bad enough I have to put up with squirrels and their squirrelly noises but bears? Shit! I. . . . " Duo took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "Sorry . . . I'm sorry. I said I wouldn't cause trouble and I'm not gonna. But bears? I'm glad I brought a side arm."

Trowa shook his head, Duo had never seen a bear close up or he wouldn't think he could kill a bear with a hand gun. Then he saw the pistol Duo took from his pack. I was a specially made single shot hand gun modeled on the 20th century Contender competition pistol. Bolt action, .30-06, open sights, and rubberized grips, you _could_ kill a bear with it.

The only two targets on a grizzly bear that were sure shots were the eye or the roof of the mouth. Anywhere else on a bear was problematical, as the tough hide and thick hair made a straight shot essential. If the rifle was underpowered the chances of just wounding it were high. Duo was one of the best shots of the group, so he could hit the eye or roof of the mouth, especially the size of a grizzlies mouth, no problem. Except no one wanted to mess with a bear.

Duo stomped around for a few seconds until his knee complained, then he sat down wrapping his arms around it and started rocking himself, grumbling. He truly was miserable, he sat rocking himself and feeling sorry, for himself, for Quatre, for Heero. Damnit, all he wanted was to go somewhere, live with Heero and have as normal a life as two former terrorists could have. He really didn't want much, just to be left alone.

"Duo, please stop that. You look so miserable it's breaking my heart. I know all you want is to be with Heero, but you can't. He'd hate to see you this way. Come on. Let's get you a little more comfortable. Here! Sit!"

Wufei pulled Duo up and practically dragged him to the fire. He pushed him into a camp chair and stuffed a stool under his foot. Trowa handed him a plate of stew and a cold survival cracker. He'd planned to fix something a little more elaborate, but Duo's attitude made him decide to get food into him quickly. They'd have a nice meal later tonight.

Duo accepted the plate with a soft 'thank you' but immediately pitched the cracker into the bushes. No one said anything about it, if Duo was wasting food he really hated it. He never seemed to be quite filled up and had to be watched from time to time because he would gorge until he was sick. Heero was especially sensitive to his moods, but they had to watch him.

"Wufei, how is he doing, really. I'm worried about him. He seems to be spending a lot of his time hugging himself and rocking. If he's not hovering over his laptop checking all the old mail boxes looking for E-mail from Heero."

Wufei rubbed his eyes, he didn't think Duo was going to last two years, much less twenty. He was slowly losing his mind. It wasn't obvious to the others, but Wufei had been watching him more closely than they had. He'd promised Heero that he would take care of Duo and he intended to do exactly that. If he could figure out how. He needed to get Duo's mind off Heero. He was all Duo thought about, imagining all sorts of horrible things happening to him. Wufei was surprised that Duo hadn't tried to break him out.

"We're losing him. He's going, slowly but surely, crazy. He can't go on like this much longer. Twenty years! We're going to be visiting him in a locked ward in two."

Quatre looked at Wufei then turned stark white. He fumbled for a chair and sat down very carefully, like he was afraid the chair wouldn't be there. Trowa hurried over when he noticed how white Quatre was.

"What's wrong, Quatre? Are you sick? Let me get you . . ."

"No Tro'. I'm ok. Oh, dear. Oh, my! Oh, poor Duo. Poor Heero. I'm such a fool. I . . . but . . . well . . . I never."

"Quatre Raberba Winner. Stop sputtering and tell me what is wrong. How can I fix it if you don't tell me?"

Quatre suddenly smiled that special smile he had just for Trowa. He was going to save his news for tonight. It would make everyone much happier.

Trowa relaxed, if Quatre could summon up that smile, nothing was very wrong. He went back to stacking wood without comment.

Wufei started to question Quatre but decided that he would wait until he was ready to tell them whatever had made him smile like that, he just hoped it would make Duo smile too.

Trowa had finished the fire pit and started a nice fire in it. He'd also finished setting up the camp. If he had to camp out, he was going to make sure it was done right. He had spent his life with mercenaries for nothing. He knew a great deal more about camping out than he wanted to. He was more of Duo's mind, he liked civilization much better.

Duo sat down beside Wufei, wrapping his arms around his knees he started rocking again. It seemed that all he did was rock himself and worry.

"Wuffers? I think I'm going nutty. All I can think about is Heero. What's he doing? Is he ok? Is someone hurting him? I can't seem to think about anything else. I'm going round the bend."

"I know, Duo. I think about that too. But he will come back and you have to be strong enough to be here when he does. I'm sure he thinks about you all the time too. Next time you e-mail him just come out and ask. But don't ask where he is. We don't want to know because if they ask we'll have to tell and he seems satisfied where he is."

Wufei didn't fuss at Duo for calling him Wuffers, he'd finally given up on trying to get Duo to quit mangling his name. If it gave him some slight comfort or entertainment, let him. He also put his arm around the other boy and held him rather awkwardly, but at least he quit rocking.

O

Quatre finished his supper and sighed with satisfaction. The meal they'd had just after they'd set up camp had been a makeshift late lunch. This had been a real meal, made by Trowa and Wufei. He wasn't quite sure exactly what was in the casserole like dish, but it had been good and filling. Now he intended to drop his surprise on the others. He hoped it would lighten Duo's mood, he knew it would help Trowa and Wufei.

"Guys, I think I should have made sure of this weeks ago. I talked with the lawyers right after Heero was sentenced. Do any of you really understand the sentence?"

"Yeah, twenty years. Away from me. Away from everything he fought so hard to make happen." Duo put his plate down and slumped in his chair, elbows on his knees, hands dangling between them.

Trowa and Wufei just looked grim and angry.

"It is unjust. I would break him out, but where would we go?"

Quatre had been afraid of this but had hoped that it wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Well. He had a nice surprise for the others.

"Ok . . . No breaking him out. He got ten and ten, to run concurrently. Have any idea what that means?"

Wufei became so still that he almost disappeared in the twilight shadowed clearing. When Trowa raised his hand to push at his bangs everyone flinched.

Quatre smiled, lighting up the evening with his joy.

"Tro'. Put some more wood on that fire, will you? . . . I've got some explaining to do."

Duo shivered. During the war, when Quatre had gotten that look on his face, he had thought up something that would make Oz very unhappy. But now that the war was over, he had no idea where that particular look had come from.

"Duo . . . first, I must apologize to you. You've suffered so much. I'm ashamed of myself. I should have made sure you all understood." He sighed softly, puffing out his cheeks. "The sentence runs concurrently. That means that he is serving both sentences at once. Not ten years then ten more. Just ten years, but that's not all. We spent almost nine months under house arrest at my home in Sanq. Then I managed to get the trial transferred to America. They have some really weird laws here and so that nine months comes off his sentence as time served, then he'll get his sentence reduced due to over crowding and another reduction for good behavior, if he can keep himself out of trouble and I know he will. So, due to one thing and another, he'll be out in a year to eighteen months."

Duo's scream sounded like a wild cat's.

"OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD! You mean that you better mean that if you don't I'll I don't "

Duo swayed on his feet, looking so white it scared them all. He sat down suddenly and let his head hang between his knees. Wufei sat down behind him and Trowa grabbed a canteen, pouring some in his hand to splash on Duo's face then holding it to his lips.

Wufei felt it too, that sudden release of a tightness he'd not even really noticed until it was gone. Trowa didn't bother to hide the tears as they trickled down his cheeks. Quatre looked very pleased with himself.

"And I wasn't going to tell this because I wanted you to have believable denyability. Until just now I didn't realize how hard Duo was taking this. I've been a little occupied trying to get Winner Enterprises under control and get us all settled in. But here it is. I . . . uh . . . I bribed the clerk at the Court House to . . . er . . . Oh, my. I got him to change Heero's name . . . just a little . . . he's lost in the system right now because I did that. Trowa told you he thought he knew where Heero was. Tro, where do you think he is?"

"He's at that juvenile center in the next county. Fitzroy's Farm for Wayward boys. It's actually very nice. Especially compared to some of the prisons we've been in. You can get on work release and do road work. They make the boys go to school. It's very up to date."

Quatre nodded at Trowa, his lover was very smart.

"Yes, that's where he is. And don't worry about them finding out, the system here is so overloaded that they aren't even really looking for Heero Yuy. I checked, there's a hundred and twenty-three Heero Yuy's of various ages in it now and everyone is sure that Heero is just at someone elsies facility. When Heero comes up for parole I'll make sure he gets a hearing and gets out. All we have to do is hang on until he's eligible. One year, eighteen months at most. "

Duo was nearly delirious with joy. Eighteen months and he could have Heero in his arms again. It was a long time, but not nearly as long as twenty years. He could do eighteen months easy, all he had to do was keep himself busy, really busy.

O

"Look at all the stars. I didn't know you could see so many from earth. It's really pretty, isn't it. I wish Heero could see this. Q-man, do you think he'd like to see it?. Could we bring him up here so he can?"

"Sure Duo. If you want to we'll all come up and see the stars."

"Wufei, do you think Heero's looking at the stars? Do you think he has a window? I hope he does. I like to think that we're looking at the same thing."

"I'm sure Heero has a window. And if he looks out it he can see the same stars as you."

"That's nice. I like that . . . un Q-man? Thanks. I don't think I ever remembered to thank you . . . Trowa's asleep"

"No, I'm not. And you did remember, but it's good of you to thank him again. He's the one asleep"

Duo looked around and then pointed, "What's that? It looks like another camp fire. Is it a camp ground?"

Wufei smiled slightly with relief, Duo was acting more like his old self. The sudden barrage of questions was a very good sign.

"Yes, it's a campground. Down there is a lake with a campground."

"Oh, will they . . . um. Never mind . . . it's stupid" Duo shrugged, he was feeling a little paranoid still.

"They can't get here from there, the terrain is way to rough. They may see our fire, but that's all."

Trowa had checked out the terrain and was ready to pull out his topographical map if Duo wanted to see it.

Duo suddenly threw his head back and let out a long mournful wolflike howl, Trowa joined him and on the second howl Quatre joined in and Wufei too. They heard an answering howl from down the valley.

Next morning they stumbled out of their tents to the smell of smoke and the sound of a helicopter landing near by.

Duo ran to the chopper and nearly killed the safety man as he grabbed him and tumbled him into the chopper. The navigator ran to the others and started yelling.

"Forest fire. Come on. Leave your stuff. We gotta get out of here now. It's headed right this way. Come on."

Quatre started for the chopper at a dead run, followed by Wufei and Ttrowa. They didn't bother to try to step into the bay. All three of them just dove into the door and Wufei and Trowa turned around to snatch the navigator through the door. The entire rescue took a total of five minutes from landing to take off. As they flew away the chopper tipped and they could see the fire two ridges over it was headed right for their campsite.

"That fire will be to your site within the next two or three hours. Lucky you filed a plan with parks. There's a bunch from the local detention facility in here somewhere. We'll be taking the scenic route back so we can look for them. You boys sit back and relax." The pilot turned his attention back to his duties, never knowing that if he'd not turned his head to talk to them he'd have seen the other group.

O

Camping: Heero style.

"Heero? The Headmaster wants you. Don't worry, you're not in trouble. Or maybe you are, depending on how you feel about camping."

Heero knocked at the door and hearing 'come in' he walked in and stood before the headmaster, waiting to see what he wanted.

"You've been here long enough to win privileges and your grades are phenomenal, so you get a reward. At least I hope you think it's a reward. Every summer we reward five of the best students with a survival hike. We go into the mountains, the Sierras, we go up by helicopter and hike out. Most of the boys who go up come down with a better sense of self-confidence. You seem so hesitant, I'm hoping that this trip will give you a better self image."

Heero had to hold himself in tightly, he wasn't about to laugh in the man's face. Hesitant? He'd been holding in so that he wasn't issuing the guards orders left and right. The security in this place was pathetic and his first impulse was to give the Headmaster a report. He knew he didn't have a poor self image, like the therapist thought, he just didn't care much what others thought so he came off as shy and hesitant.

"I think I'd like to go very much. I know a little about survival. I'd be interested in comparing notes with the instructor. Thank you very much, Sir. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow at dawn. You'll be dropped off in the High Sierras with everything you need in your back pack. It'll take four days to hike out."

Heero was interested in this camping trip, he was tired of staying in the building. He felt cooped up and suffocated. He was used to a lot more outdoor exercise than he was getting. When he found out that the other four boys were all city born and bred he was a little less happy, but decided to follow Duo's advice again. Don't buy trouble, you get plenty for free. Just worry enough to get through the day and let tomorrow worry about itself.

He'd make sure he had everything he would need to cope with any of the disasters that could come up on a supervised survival hike with four totally inexperienced city kids. He just hoped the instructor wasn't some bleeding heart camp counselor type.

O

Heero went to the computer lab and asked the monitor if he could spend sometime on line. The man eyed him for a moment. He wondered at this boy, so self contained that he seemed hesitant and shy. What was really going on behind those shuttered cobalt blue eyes? Deciding that it wasn't really his business he shook his head and told Heero that he didn't have to ask, all he had to do was sign on and do whatever he wanted.

He also explained that the whole system was monitored by an AI. If you didn't have your school work done all you could do was access the school sections. After home work and lessons were done if they had computer time left they could do anything they wanted to do with it. The AI would keep hackers under control and anyone who was caught doing things they weren't supposed to do, would lose computer privileges for a specific length of time for various offences. Heero hid his smile, he'd been in the system several times and had bypassed all the traps.

"I have a friend on the outside. I'd like to send him some mail. Is that ok?"

Heero had realized that he wasn't going to be sending Duo anything that was classified or even secret. Besides, if he needed to, he could send an open mail with a code to let him know to check one of the secret boxes.

"Sure, but the mail is read by that AI, so you don't want to send certain words, like 'bomb' and 'poison'. That'll flag your mail and a person will read it. Just use some common sense."

Heero spent half an hour finishing his school work, then sent Duo an e-mail telling him about the camping trip. When he checked the mail box he'd been using, the open mail made him smirk. Duo was going camping Duo and camping in the same sentence? Oh my with Quatre, Trowa and Wufei. That was something he regretted missing. He'd have to send Duo a message telling him about the trip he was on. He would compose it like a mission report, Duo would laugh himself silly at that. He missed Duo so much that sometimes he was almost sick.

After checking on everything he could find out about the Sierras, Heero composed the contents of his pack. He just hoped that he could get everything he wanted. He hated one thing about this whole war-over thing. He didn't have the resources he used to have.

"Excuse me. I've come to see about getting my pack ready for tomorrow. I'd like to have the things on this list if I could. Please."

Cooper looked at Winner-Yuy, "Ok, lets see what you've got on the list that you can have. Hmmm. Not bad, done some camping in the past. You can't have the camp stove. You have to learn to build your own fire and all that survival stuff."

"I know how to start a fire with a fire bow. I like matches better, more reliable. I want the stove for emergencies. Please, sir. I'll make sure that you don't get into trouble." Heero kept his voice reasonable, he wanted to be prepared. He didn't want to have to rely on outside resources in an emergency. Being rude wouldn't get him anywhere. 'Ro, damnit, snarling around like that won't get you anywhere. It just puts peoples backs up.

"Sorry kid, they'll search your pack. You're not supposed to have candy and a bunch of other stuff. But brats always try to sneak that kind of stuff. So they search your pack and confiscate all the contraband."

"Well . . . if I can't have it, I can't. That's ok. I probably won't need it, but I like to be prepared. Missions . . . "

Heero shut up before he said something to give himself away. He wanted to stay here and he knew, if they found out who he really was, he'd be in Hellcreek so fast his head would spin.

O

Heero turned out at six a.m. without complaint, that was late compared to some of the missions he'd been on. He was going to treat this like a mission, but he was going to have fun too. It sounded like a contradiction in terms, it wasn't, he'd had fun on several of their missions. The ones that had been swoop and destroy, with no personnel involved. He'd especially liked the one where they had to destroy an automated munitions factory. It had exploded rather spectacularly

"All right, gentlemen, line up for inspection. I am going to go through everything and confiscate all contraband. You got a list of items you can't have. If you have anything on that list, I'm going to leave it right here. Unpack and lay everything on the ground in front of you. Lets hop to it. Now! Get moving!

"While you're doing that. My name is Sargent Draden. You will call me Sargent Draden, or Sargent. You will not call me mack, or bud, or Sarg, or any other thing than my name. We will be hiking out from the landing site. You will carry your own pack. If you get hot spots on your feet you will tell me immediately, I don't want you getting blisters. You will drink water. There is no soda, no coffee, no tea, nothing except water during the day. You can have one cup of coffee at breakfast and another at supper. You will set up and break down the camp yourselves. I am not, I repeat not, a fuckin' tour guide. I am your instructor and I am going to teach you to be self-sufficient, self-reliant, and competent. If you can't carry your own weight leave now."

While he was speaking, the Sargent had checked the contents of three of the packs. He didn't find anything he shouldn't but the fourth boy had so much contraband that it took up half the space in his pack. The Sargent calmly tossed it all aside and told the boy to go back to his room and find all the things that he'd left behind and bring them back.

"Well boy, who are you? I've got names here, but I haven't gotten you all matched up yet."

Heero stood at ease.

"Winner-Yuy, Heero, Sir."

"You've got a lot of extra weight here. No contraband I'm glad to see, but are you sure you can handle all this? I'm not carrying your pack for you. You carry it yourself, or you lighten it until you can."

"I understand, Sir. I'm used to carrying quiet a load. I can carry twice the standard load all day. I won't hold the group back, Sir."

"Well at least you're polite. I've got my eye on you, so don't think you'll get away with anything, even if you do have manners . . . you look familiar. Do I know you? Have you served in Oz?"

Heero froze, served in Oz/Oh shit./ If this guy was asking him that, there could be a real problem.

"No. I never served in Oz. I'm only seventeen."

"Well . . . " the Sargent looked at him closely, Heero stood easy controlling the urge to kill the man with some difficulty. "I know you from somewhere. Never mind. Repack your pack, get ready to go."

They waited for the fifth boy for ten more minutes, then Sargent Draden looked at his watch, called the boys and got them into the chopper. The chopper was a standard troop carrier. The design was over four hundred years old and still in use. Heero was very familiar with the design and liked the old JG, it would get them to the drop point without trouble.

At the drop point the Sargent off loaded all the packs, checked straps and headed them out for the first camp site. It was 08:00 and they had until 21:20 to complete a camp site. That was sundown and even then it wouldn't be fully dark. Heero was optimistic. /They can't be so bad that we don't make a good camp site in thirteen hours and twenty minutes./

"Gentlemen, move out. We have twelve hours to make our projected camp site and I intend to make it."

The Sargent chivvied them off the landing site and down a path. Heero was glad to see that the path was down hill. It probably wouldn't stay that way but starting out easy was good. It would give him a chance to see what the other three boys were made of.

He'd evaluated them to the best of his ability when they'd on loaded, but they hadn't had to walk far so he'd been unable to get a real feel for any of them. However, the Sargent was capable and gave Heero the impression that he'd done this before.

Of the other three boys; one was common, brown hair, brown eyes, medium height, medium build, just plain medium, he hunched under his pack like it was just that much too heavy. The second boy was tall, slender, red haired and pale complected, he didn't hunch under his pack, but he kept pulling at the straps. The third boy might be a problem. He was smaller than average, slight and delicate. He carried his pack in a competent manner; however, it was too heavy for him and he was already struggling. Heero grumbled under his breath. /I'd rather do this with Duo, he might complain loudly and bitterly about camping but at least he's competent and can carry a full pack all day without falling down in exhaustion./

Heero dropped back with the Sargent and walked beside him, "Excuse me, Sir. I don't think that number three in line is going to be able to keep up unless we lighten his pack by at least half. He's just too small."

"Heero, right?" Heero nodded. "Boys' name is Pete; next one up, the red head, is Red. How'd I guess that one? And the boy on point is Jamie. Problem with Pete is, he's going to need everything in that pack, sooner or later. So what do we do with it? You gonna carry it?"

Heero contemplated that for a minute.

"Yeah."

"Damnit, boy, that means that you'll be carrying a hundred pounds near abouts. You can't keep it up for several days. You know we projected six days to hike out, and unless I miss my guess, you're well aware that missions like this always run over."

"I can carry quite a load. And if you give me all his food stuffs to carry, the load will lighten day by day. I can carry one hundred pounds easily, especially if it's down hill."

Sargent Draden stopped the boys fifteen minutes later and unpacked Pete's load, checking it out again and still not finding anything that shouldn't be there. He examined the pack itself. Everything checked out, so the pack was just too heavy for the boy. Pete was upset until he realized that the Sargent wasn't blaming him for something he didn't do.

"Look, boy, you're just too small to carry a full pack. I should have made sure you were up to it, but I assumed that the councilor would have made sure that you were up to the load. We're gonna have to lighten your load or you're not going to make it. Heero here has volunteered to carry half your load. So I'm sorting it out."

Heero watched as Sargent Draden took the tent and most of the food; leaving only the ground cloth, sleeping bag, canteen and a third of his food. Repacking the now lightened pack the Sargent checked the straps again and readjusted them. Draden then turned to Heero and started to repack his pack for him.

"Sir. I'd rather pack that myself. I know what I'm doing and I have a certain way I like it weighted. If you don't mind."

Heero unloaded his pack and readjusted the load. He liked the heavy things packed in the middle of the pack just at the small of his back. It kept his center of balance unchanged so he didn't need to compensate.

Draden changed the order of march. He set himself at point, with the three less experienced boys next, Pete last in that file and Heero bringing up the rear, 'eyes behind'. Heero knew that the man had no idea how easily he could have disappeared into the mountains, never to be seen again. Especially with all the food stuffs he was carrying. But if he did that he would be spending the rest of his life on the run; if he didn't get caught and have a big chunk of time added to his sentence.

Without even thinking about it Heero grazed as they marched (crawled) through the woods. Underbrush on both sides of the trail had berry bushes and he found ramps that were full and ripe for plucking. He was wiping the dirt off another ramp when Draden saw him and nearly went ballistic.

"Boy, what the hell do you think you're doing? How do you know that isn't poison? Spit it outnow."

Heero did as he was told but he could tell that the Sargent had gotten a good whiff of the ramp as he did. There was no mistaking the smell of wild garlic. He spit again just to make sure the Sargent knew he was obeying.

"You know you're supposed to check everything out with me before you eat it. Or didn't your counselor explain things to you."

"I'm sorry. The Headmaster sent me. It's a reward for catching up on my school work or something like that. And he didn't explain much of anything. I've been in the woods before, so I know what to eat and what not to. I'm sorry if I scared you, Sir. I didn't mean to."

"Ok. I'll make it easy for you to understand, don't eat or drink anything we haven't carried in without my express approval. You may know what you're doing but I don't want the others getting ideas. Understand."

"Hn." Heero nodded, he was sorry he'd scared the man, he was trying to be more forthcoming. Heero, you got to talk to people. Too much quiet usually means kids are up to something they shouldn't be. You attract too much attention.

"Your bio says you're hesitant to speak, almost shy. I don't get that feeling. What's with you?"

Heero shifted from foot to foot. He didn't really trust this man, that question about Oz had left him less than happy.

"I'm just not much of a talker. I don't see the need to babble on endlessly about nothing. I say what I have to say and then shut up. I also don't see the need to waste my breath talking to people who have already made up their minds, it usualy doesn't do any good. So I just keep my mouth shut and pick up the pieces afterwards."

"I see. I knew a man like you once upon a time. Good solder, good man. I liked him, but he didn't make it through the wars. Got himself killed in some stupid attack on Talgeese. He was good at a lot of different things and I really liked him."

Heero watched the Sargent's face while he talked. When the man said his friend got killed in an attack on Talgeese he wondered why he asked if Heero was with Oz. Being Heero, he asked for information.

"If you served with the rebellion, why did you ask if I served with Oz?"

"I remember your face from somewhere but I can't for the life of me remember where. The only thing I could think of was posters of Oz officers that we got. But as soon as I realized how young you are I knew that was a stupid question. You're much too young to have been an officer in Oz Specials." The man held out a hand in a calming gesture. "I don't expect you to tell me anything. I probably don't want to know who you really are anyway. I . . ."Suddenly the Sargent turned a funny shade of green. "If you're who I think you are I really don't want to ask any more questions. Just remember, if anything happens to me you're going to have to get the rest of these boys out of the woods by yourself."

Heero gave the pale man a slight smile and, shrugging his pack into a more comfortable position, walked off heading down the path ahead of the rest of the group. Let him take up eyes behind for a while and Heero take point.

Heero started out at what he considered a slow pace and Sargent Draden let him go for all of ten minutes, then he called a rest stop and took Heero aside.

"Look, I have a good idea of who you are and I gotta tell ya I think you got a raw deal. So here it is. This isn't a mission. We're supposed to be enjoying ourselves. So slow down to a crawl. The other boys are panting like old dogs. I'm beginning to get tired myself and I'm in good shape. I never saw anything like it. You're carrying half again what you should and you're still practically running."

Heero looked at the Sargent and smiled, the man knew exactly who he was and wasn't making a big deal of it. So Heero shared.

"The most I ever carried at one time was Duo, ten pounds of assorted supplies and twenty pounds of C-10, home made. Had to run three miles with it all. Completed the mission and got both of us home in one piece, more or less."

"Who's Duo?"

"My lover and partner. Gundam 02."

"Son of a bitch. That's the long-haired one? Looks like a girl?"

"Only if she's stronger than average, smart enough to figure ballistic trajectories, fuel consumption requirements and burn time equations in her head and homicidal. Duo may look fragile, and he is in a way, but not physically. He's as tough as they come, ask Oz. They got hold of him and tortured him for days, he was still laughing at them when I rescued him."

"They tortured him? Damnit! He was only what? Fourteen?"

"Yeah. Just about my age."

"I can't believe they tortured him, it's inconceivable. You were all just babies."

Heero grimaced, he hated it when someone started that, so he pulled up his shirt and showed the man some of his scars.

"They got hold of me too. See? Here's proof."

"Well . . . hell."

"Yeah, most of them are there now. Courtesy of the girlie looking kid."

The only thing that Sargent could think of was to get them back on the trail. He chivvied the boys into some sort of line and put Heero at the back end again.

It took them another two hours to reach the camp site. Then another hour to set up camp, at least it took the other boys an hour. Heero had his tent setup in less than ten minutes and spent the rest of the time gathering fire wood and snickering to himself as he watched the Sargent's efforts to get the other boys setup.

"Ok. You're so smart . . . you set it up."

"Sorry. Part of the mission of this camp out it to teach you to be self-sufficient. Although I don't think it helps much that we're eating prepackaged rations instead of living off the land." Heero eyed the red headed boy with little sympathy. He'd helped Pete with his tent and found that he knew what he was doing, he was just so physically small that he was having problems. The other two boys had turned out to be incompetent and down right dangerous. Red knew absolutely nothing about camping and didn't want to learn and Jamie had a chip on his shoulder so big a Gundam would have problems with it.

"I'm not sleepin' in no tent. I want a regular room like real people. I don't like all these weird noises and funky smells. Why the hell anyone would think this is a reward I have no fucking clue."

Jamie had dropped his pack and was now complaining to anyone who would listen. Pete patiently tried to explain and the only reason that Jamie didn't punch him was Heero. He caught the thrown punch in the palm of his hand and just made a tisking noise, shaking his head.

"Don't do that again. If you do, I'll make you sorry." Heero's soft threat was exactly that and Jamie knew it. He wilted quickly and went back to trying to pitch his tent.

"Thanks, Heero. I just hope you don't get in trouble with him. He . . . "

"He won't do anything." Heero followed Jamie with his eyes until he caught him looking back and gave him a warning glare that made the other boy turn white. "I've got my eye on him now. He won't bother you either."

"Oh. Um. Well, thanks again, and thanks for helping me with my tent. I can do the rest myself. All I have to do is put down my bag and set up the lamp."

Heero settled down in front of his tent and allowed Pete to sit near him. Pete squirmed, cleared his throat and started to say something. He seemed to be having trouble getting started so Heero decided to encourage him

"Hn?"

"Un . . . well ummm my . . . " Pete took a deep breath and got it out in a rush. "What are you in for you don't have to tell me if you don' want."

"Crimes against society, and manslaughter." Heero waited for Pete to get up and move away.

"Wow . . . Manslaughter . . . That's tough. Get a long sentence? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I'm just . . . I'm bored and I tend to get into trouble then. That's how I got here. Crimes against society too. I hacked the new Preventers Bureau computer and messed up something. They're really pissy about that. You have no idea."

Heero looked at the smaller boy and allowed a smile. "You hacked the P.B. departmental computer. That's good. Did you use a worm?"

"No, I found a back door big enough to drive a truck through."

After that the conversation degenerated into hacker slang that only those who thought in binary could understand. They discussed algorithms and code strings. Then started in on the newest hardware and Pete admitted that he was a hardware geek of the worst sort.

"I wish I could see the computers the Gundam pilot, 02 used. I heard he was a hacker's hacker. I bet it was really something to see. Too bad they confiscated it. I bet he had some killer hacks in it."

Heero shook his head. "I've seen it. Not much to see unless you open it up. Then it's a nightmare. It's tweaked to hell and gone. But the software is really nice. He's got everything you need to hack anything already written and all you have to do is download it."

"Wow. You know 02, you work with him or what. . . . " Pete looked at Heero's arrested expression. "Oh, don't worry, I won't tell. Besides, what difference does it make? The war's over. Who would believe me anyway? I'm just a kid. No one believes kids."

The Sargent came over to see how they were doing and smiled at Heero sitting with Pete, they looked young and fresh. Pete talking animatedly, gesturing with both his hands, and Heero bent over slightly, chin on a fist, elbow on a knee, listening with an attentive expression. They both looked up at his approach and Pete grinned, while Heero just nodded.

"You boys ok? Need any help?" Draden looked around the neat camp area. "I don't think so. Heero, would you mind making sure Pete's tent is staked out solidly?"

"I already did, it's good. How are you doing with Red and Jamie?"

The Sargent shook his head, grumbling, "Not good, those two are just plain dumb. They don't want to be camping and they aren't going to cooperate. It's going to be hell. I'm seriously considering cutting their trip short."

Heero glanced around wondering what exactly the Sargent was going to do. Sargent Draden blinked and then chuckled.

"I don't know what you're thinking and I don't want to. If they really get uncooperative all, I have to do is head for an extraction point and have them picked up by chopper. If someone gets hurt, we do the same. Not like we'll . . . er." Draden shut up suddenly, a nasty idea had bubbled to the surface.

Heero watching the change in expression decided to ask a question. He wasn't use to anyone taking care of him, usualy it was the other way around, he took care of someone else.

"If someone gets hurt, you have extraction points? How many and where are they? I need the intel."

Heero gave Draden a sharp look. He wanted this information and he was going to get it, even if he had to sneak a look at the map.

"Yeah, I think you should. I'll get the map and show it to you as soon as I get those two mules set up. I swear, if they don't get it together soon, I'm going to let them sleep out."

"I don't see any reason why not. It's going to be a clear night and it's not going to be chilly. I've slept out in a lot worse. With a fire they'll sleep pretty good."

"Dew could make them uncomfortable and while they need to learn, I really don't fancy trying to handle two idiots with colds on a five-day hike."

Heero grunted and Pete snickered. He didn't fancy putting up with two whiners for five days, colds or not, and said so. Sargent Draden grumbled something about willing and able and small as he walked away.

"Heero?"

"Yeah."

"You ever smile? I mean . . . well." Pete sighed, he was afraid he was about to piss off the only friend he had on this trek from, or to, hell.

"I don't have much to smile about. I never have. I think if I had something, I wouldn't know exactly how" Heero smirked slightly "and I'd probably give my friends a heart attack."

"You mad?"

"Me? No. I don't really get mad. I just get even."

"Damnit, now that's scarey. Tell me if I'm making you mad, ok?"

"Ok. We better get up and get to it or we're not going to have any supper. Draden is still fucking around with the terrible twosome. So I guess it's up to us."

Heero went to see how Draden was getting along with his two stubborn charges and found that he had just thrown up his hands in disgust and told the two that if they wanted to sleep in a tent or eat hot food they needed to get their shit in gear. Heero watched as he walked away then followed him to ask for a good look at the map.

Draden sat down with Heero and showed him the topographical map of the area with all the trails marked clearly and neat icons for camping areas, pickup points, and caches. Heero hadn't seen anything like it, ever. All the maps he'd used were very different. They were coded and nothing was marked, he'd had to remember where things were located.

"This is nice. I don't have to remember where everything is. It's all marked so clearly I'm glad this isn't a mission. Oz would have a hay day with a map like this."

Draden sighed. He knew who Heero was now and he couldn't for the life of him figure out how this boy was who he was. He had a bad feeling about this trip, but he didn't think Heero had anything to do with it.

"In a way we are on a mission. Your mission is to learn how to act your age. Usually I'm telling seventeen-year-olds who act like they're two that. In this case I'm telling a seventeen-year-old who acts forty to learn to act his age. You need to lighten up some. Learn to have some good, clean fun. The rest of my mission is to get this collection of poor souls to the pick up point without killing those two. Pete's not a problem, but Red and Jamie have ganged up in their determination not to have any fun or learn anything on this hike."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't think I can help you with them. All I can do is make sure Pete is ok. In my opinion we ought to just walk off on Red and Jamie. They aren't carrying their own weight, in fact they're an obstacle. If this was a real mission, they . . ." Heero shut up before he said something to frighten the Sargent. Heero, don't scare the help. It makes them do stupid stuff.

Draden threw up his hands. "Don't tempt me."

Heero smirked at Draden and said sourly. "You're the fool who volunteered. So come on. I'll set up the fire pit and start something to eat. How much should I fix?"

"Just for the three of us, those two can start their own fire and supper. I warned them plenty of times. We start out as we plan to go on. Tomorrow I'll get up in time to fix coffee and breakfast for all of us."

Heero nodded, called Pete to come with him, and headed down to the lake to get water. The walk was nice. The air was clear and clean, the sunset was awe-inspiring, set against the backdrop of the Sierra Mountains. The path was easy heading for the lake, but the walk back made Pete stop once, panting. Heero wondered at how short of breath the boy was.

Pete pressed his hand against his chest. "Man, I hate to say it and I'll deny it to my dying breath, but my Dad was right. I spend way too much time in front of a computer. Damn, I'm out of shape."

Heero relaxed, realizing he'd been holding tension in his shoulders, afraid of what the boy was going to tell him. Out of shape he could handle, some esoteric disease was out of his area of experience.

"Just try to keep up tomorrow. If it really gets to be too much, let me know. But I'm going to keep an eye on you. I'll see to it that you don't fall behind. Draden seems reasonable. You'll be ok."

Pete gave Heero a grateful look. The other boys had been teasing him about being small and out of shape. There would be no help there. More likely they would make the hike as hard on him as they could.

Heero rummaged around in his pack and after consulting Pete decided on dehydrated beef stroganoff for supper. All he had to do was boil the noodles, drain them and add the pouches of sauce mix with enough water to reconstitute the beef. If there's actually any beef in this I'll be totally surprised Pete offered to do scut work, so Heero set him to boiling dish water and setting up the stools so they didn't have to sit on the ground.

When Draden can back to the fire, he flopped down and eyed Pete. "Those two give you any trouble I want to hear about it. I don't want you two taking things into your own hands. Especially you Mr. Winner-Yuy."

"Very well, Sir. I won't start anything." Heero handed him a plate and utensils.

"They start anything, just don't kill them. Ok?"

"Ok." Heero turned his head and gazed at Pete for a second. "I'll take care of Pete. You take care of those two idiots. I just hope they don't catch a cold tonight."

"That's the second time you've mentioned that. You have a . . . a premonition or something?"

"No, just a bad feeling. This whole mission is wacked, as Duo would say. Something is going to happen, I just don't know what. Better eat. It's getting dark and I'd like to get the dishes done before it does."

Draden ate and handed the plate to Pete to wash. He took a walk around the camp and noticed with some amusement that Red and Jamie had finally managed to set up some kind of camp. He hoped the two recalcitrant boys learned a lesson from their stubbornness.

Returning to the fire, he settled on a stool and listened as Heero pointed out constellations to Pete. The sudden howling from the nearest ridge made Draden and Pete jump, but Heero listened for a second and then howled back. The mournful sound made Draden shiver.

O

It was still dark when Heero woke. At first he wasn't sure what had awakened him, but the faint smell of smoke in the air made him stir from his bed roll and tent. The camp fires had been put out carefully before they went to bed so that wasn't the source of the smell.

"Draden . . . Draden . . . wake up." Heero carefully patted Sargent Draden on the foot. He wasn't about to shake the man by the shoulder. He didn't know enough about him to take that chance.

Draden dragged his brain into consciousness and grumbled. "It's still dark. This better be more important than you gotta pee . . . shit! Yuy, that you?"

"Yes, Sir. And if I had to pee I wouldn't be bothering you. Wake up."

"I'm awake, I'm awake! What's the problem? What's that smell?" Draden sniffed.

"That's what I'd like to know, Sir. We put the fires out completely last night. I don't like it."

Draden crawled out of his tent. "Kid, I don't like it either. Go wake up Pete. Stay with him. I'll wake up the terrible twosome."

Heero didn't bother trying to wake Pete up gently. He just dragged him, sleeping bag and all, out of the tent and woke him up. After telling him to put on his clothes, Heero started taking down both tents. If they weren't in trouble, they weren't going back to sleep anyway, it was false dawn by now.

Draden came back at a run, followed by Red and Jamie. He had a mini-radio-GPS set in his hand and was swearing like a trooper.

"There's a fire. Come on, we have to get moving. I got hold of parks and tried to tell them where we are, but I don't think they got it all. This area is hard to radio out of. The satellite is in the wrong orientation until noon and by then the fire will be here, or at least that's what I thought he said."

Heero looked at the lake, it would be better to stay here and just wade out into the lake until the fire went by. But Draden cut him off before he could explain more than that they should stay at the lake.

"Look, my orders are clear. Any trouble and I head for one of the pick up sites. So we go. Pack up and let's get on the trail. Heero, help Pete."

Heero junked Pete's pack. He'd managed to get almost everything into his pack, the only things he had abandoned were the tent and the extra ground cloth. Two could fit in one tent, if they got really friendly, and he didn't want to give up any food. Tents, they could manage without; food, they might need.

"Where's Pete's pack? Don't leave anything we might need behind. If it's necessary, I'll decide what to leave and what to take."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but Pete can't keep up the pace and carry a pack too. I lightened the load some so I won't wear out too quickly. I've junked one tent and a ground cloth. Everything else is in my pack. I'll stay with Pete. You don't have to worry about him, if I can manage to take care of Maxwell, I'm sure I can manage Pete."

"Ok, but for God's sake, don't lose him. Without a pack, he could be in real trouble."

Heero just nodded, eyed Red and Jamie, and went to stand near Pete.

"Briefing. We're running ahead of a fire. Stay together and keep moving. If anyone goes down, we're in trouble. Do _not_ lose your packs. Heero is carrying Pete's stuff, but it's up to you two to keep your stuff. Move out."

Neither Red nor Jamie could smell the smoke, or didn't care. They seemed to think that this whole fire was just to inconvenience them. They complained bitterly as they hiked. Heero just kept Pete close to his side and kept moving. He let Draden keep track of the other two boys and trusted him to get them headed in the right direction. He still couldn't quiet the notion that staying by the lake was their best chance.

Pete without a pack was a different hiker. He was keeping up fairly well, but either Red or Jamie could make him stumble just by hissing at him. So Heero put himself between them. Unfortunately that put Pete behind him and he didn't notice when Pete started falling behind.

Heero turned to look back at Pete, checking to see if he was keeping up. He was nowhere in sight. Damn! Heero called Draden and told him he was going back for Pete. Draden just nodded, Red and Jamie were giving him trouble, they both couldn't or wouldn't accept the trouble the group was in. They kept wandering away from the trail on one excuse or another.

Heero left Draden to deal with them and headed back down the trail looking for Pete. He found him half a mile back struggling to keep up a pace that Heero knew was going to wear him out long before he got where they needed to go.

"Here take this." Heero handed his pack to Pete, who looked at him like he'd lost his mind "Put it on. I can carry both it and you that way." Heero knelt down and told Pete how to get on his back, lock his ankles around his waist and put one arm under and one arm over his shoulders so he wouldn't choke him. Pete managed to settle himself to Heero's satisfaction.

Heero started out at a ground eating lope that Pete had no hope of keeping up for more than a second. He met up with Draden and nodded. Draden gave him a look of combined awe and envy then pointed up the trail

"I got the terrible twosome settled in a clearing up ahead. We need to stop for a few. I'll show you the map and we'll check the GPS coordinates and make sure we're headed right."

"Ok. Get moving. Don't worry about me keeping up."

Draden set an easy pace. Heero passed him setting a faster one, letting Draden know that he wasn't going to hold them back even with the double load of Pete and the pack. Draden just struggled to keep up with Heero.

When they broke through to the clearing neither Red nor Jamie was on their feet, they both had dropped their packs and were lounging on the ground half asleep. Draden started to wake them up but Heero stopped him, telling him to let them sleep until they were done as they would be less trouble.

He and Draden got out the map and GPS. Heero took the GPS and read off latitude and longitude down to the hundredth of a second. Draden eyed the map, with Pete leaning over his shoulder still panting for breath. Pete pointed to the map telling Draden that he thought they were 'here' Draden checked the legend and nodded. Pete was right to within a hundred feet.

"Very good. You listened. Hold this while I wake up the sleeping beauties."

Draden went off to wake Jamie, handing the map and GPS to Pete who gave them to Heero. Heero stowed them in his pack and shouldered it again adjusting the straps so the pack didn't move around. Heero admonished Pete again to stay near him. Pete just nodded and sighed. He was afraid he wasn't going to be able to keep up. He didn't want to get left behind again, or hold up the group.

Red came back to the clearing when Draden yelled for him, grumbling about not being allowed to do his business in peace. Heero wondered again if they were suicidal or just stupid. He motioned to Pete and started out of the clearing with Red then Jamie behind him. Draden brought up the rear and chivvied the two onwards. Heero set the pace and kept it to something Pete could manage. They came out of the pine forest into another clearing and Draden drew even with Heero.

"That's where the chopper will be." he pointed to a mark on the map. "It's only about another half mile. Do you think Pete can keep up for that much longer?"

"Yeah, as long as we don't go any faster that we're going now. But it's going to take at least a half hour, maybe more. This terrain is the problem. None of them can cope with the unevenness."

Draden sniffed, "We got to get them going faster. We don't have half an hour. Smell the smoke."

Heero just nodded and grunted, he could smell the smoke as well as Draden and he was beginning to see sparks. He didn't like it at all and was hoping he was wrong in thinking that they were rapidly running out of options. He pinned all his hopes on the chopper.

Red finally got the picture when they rounded a sharp curve in the trail and ran down into a dip, it was smoke filled. Red panicked and started running hard. Draden shouted at him to slow down enough to keep from tripping. Jamie grimly stuck to his buddy, which left Draden with no option but to keep up with them and leave Heero to care for Pete, again.

Heero grabbed Pete with one hand and held him up, the smoke was thick enough to obscure their vision and he didn't want Pete to stumble badly enough to fall. If he sprained an ankle, they were in a world of hurt. They ran until Pete was staggering and then they ran some more. Heero was practically carrying Pete when they caught up with the others. Draden was red faced and furious, his remarks to the two boys not particularly inspired, but blunt and to the point.

Pete flopped down on the ground and panted, he was tired to the point he didn't care anymore. All he wanted was to catch his breath and get his legs to quit shaking. Draden, on the radio again, gave the boy a quick assessing look and knew he was in trouble. He had one boy who was like a machine, one who was willing but too small, and two who were going to get all of them dead if they didn't get their heads around the facts.

"Heero, what do you suggest. I'm about out of arguments. They aren't listening, damnit."

Heero made a decision that would affect him almost immediately. "I'll talk to them."

Red was smirking at Pete and teasing him about getting a piggy back from Heero. Heero just took him by the neck and squeezed.

"Keep up. Don't argue with Sargent Draden. If you fall behind or argue one more time you'll answer to me. Do. You. Understand."

Red gagged and choked for a second then started nodding his head. "Yeah. I gotcha. Bastard."

Pete gasped but Heero just raised an eyebrow and walked off. He pinned Jamie with a fierce look that promised him the same treatment if he gave any trouble.

"We go. Now." Heero rounded up the whole group and snarled Draden into leading out, followed by Red, Jamie, then Pete. He brought up the rear and vowed that he was making sure Pete got into the chopper. The back of his neck was creeping. Heero if the back you your neck creeps, there's bad times ahead, you can bet on it.

It took them another fifteen minutes to get to the pickup point. The chopper was waiting but so was the fire. It had circled around behind them and was on the other side of the clearing. They could see it through the trees.

Red climbed into the chopper with Jamie on his heels. Draden piled in and reached for Heero, but Jamie had pounded on the divider between them and the pilot before the crewman could stop him. Pounding on the divider was the pilots signal to take off, so he did, leaving Heero and Pete on the ground. Heero saw Draden's mouth moving and the crewman talking on the radio but the rotors had sucked the fire too close. The pilot wasn't about to try to land and pick them up, it was doubtful that he could even understand what they were shouting about.

Pete moaned in fear as Heero snatched him up by the back of his jacket and the seat of his pants. Draden got a good look at what Heero was about to do and held out his arms. Heero threw Pete right into Draden's reach, the Sargent wrapped his arms around the boy and snatched him to his chest. Heero just stood and watched as the chopper lifted off, reoriented itself then flew away. Sargent Draden is going to fry me when I get out of here.

O

Eeeekk! Evil cliffie. But you've all waited so patiently, I felt I should post this. The second half of the chapter will follow asap. FF is still eating all my accent marks. If you come across something that looks like dialog that has wandered somewhere it dosn't belong, it's probably a thought with out it's / mark.


	5. Campfires Pt II

Campfires Pt. II.

Heero gathered up all the dropped packs and, with a sharp eye on the approaching fire, efficiently made up a single pack of the things he knew would be most useful. Draden would have been startled at what he kept. The only things he left behind were the extra sleeping bags, tents and every stitch of clothing except for what he was wearing and a jacket. He kept all the food and water, the GPS/radio, map, a tent and sleeping bag. He tossed almost all the cookware, keeping a billy can and a fry pan. The pack had to weigh in at over a hundred pounds.

He was carrying enough food for one person for two weeks and water for eight days. The streams were potable, if they weren't fouled by ashes.

He followed his nose more or less and headed away from the fire. That put him headed north and up hill. When he topped the first ridge, he heard the chopper coming back. Unfortunately, there was no place for it to land and the winds made it impossible for them to drop him a device of any kind. The chance of it being blown into the rotors was too great. He watched as the navigator used hand signals to try to talk to him but they were too far away for him to see clearly. He waived them off but they hovered anyway. Finally, he put the pack down and searched until he found the GPS. He tried the radio but they weren't on the same frequency, then he saw that it had a mirror inside the cover. He flipped it over and used flash code to signal them that he was ok and he was going to walk out. The chopper left him again after the pilot eyeballed him.

Heero turned back to the edge of the ridge and took a good look around, he was looking especially for a way around the fire. There wasn't one.

Suddenly the radio beeped. When he answered it, he found that he was connected with the central command unit in charge of fire fighting.

"Who is this? Dispatch over."

"Winner-Yuy, Heero. Over."

"Not Draden? Over."

"No. Over."

"Where's Draden? Over."

"He and all the others took off in the rescue unit. Over."

"Damnit, what are you doing with the radio? . . . over."

Heero, answer the unasked questions.

"There was a misscommunication and the chopper took off without me. 01 over."

"Where are you? Over."

Heero read off the latitude and longitude to the man and waited for him to find his location on his map.

"You're on top of devils backbone. Wait. Dispatch out."

The radio went dead but Heero was willing to wait. He had communication with someone who could get him information on the fire and the best ways to avoid it. They seemed very professional, the dispatcher not forgetting radio conventions even though he was obviously upset. He was safe for now, so he decided to eat and drink while he waited.

He had a mouth full of dry rations when the radio beeped again

"Oh-one."

"Excuse me? Dispatch."

"Sorry. I'm here. Oh-one over."

"Well, yeah. You're in good shape. Draden is having a fit. He's going to have to take the other boys back to the facility. The sheriff knows what happened, so you aren't in any trouble with the law. In fact that other boy is . . . "

Heero cut the man off saying sharply " I don't care about that. I'll handle that when the time comes. How any reasonable person could possibly think this is my fault, I don't know. Just tell me where to go to get out of the way of that fire. Oh-one over."

"You're awfully calm about all this. Dispatch over."

"Want to deal with a hysterical kid? Oh-one."

"No. Look, all this yackking isn't getting us anywhere. You know how to handle a GPS and map? Dispatch."

"Yes. Oh-one."

"Ok, here's where you go." The dispatcher gave Heero a set of coordinates and finished, "It's all private property. You'll be leaving the park the minute you go over the ridge behind you. Keep to the trails and don't cut any fences. Ok? Over."

"Yes, Sir. It's all clear. I'll give you an ETA in a few. Over."

"You can't get in touch with us once you go over that ridge. It's out of our radio range. Dispatch."

"All GPS have satellite up link. Oh-one."

"Affirmative. But that GPS is a cheapie. The radio isn't sat. link. Dispatch."

"Damn."

"Do you know how to change the frequency? Dispatch."

"Yes. Oh-one."

"I'll give you a list of frequencies. Got a pencil? Dispatch."

"Negative, but I'll remember. Oh-one."

"Yeah, right, but here goes." The dispatcher gave Heero a list of frequencies for the sheriff and highway patrol, ending. "Got an ETA yet? Dispatch."

"Negative. Back to you in five minutes. I need to check the map. Oh-one out."

Heero sat back with the map and GPS, figured out a route that stayed with the marked trails and headed as straight as possible to the given coordinates.

"Oh-one to dispatch. Do you read? Over."

"Here, Oh-one. Got that ETA for me? Dispatch."

"Affirmative. Forty-eight hours hard march or ninety-six if I sleep. Over"

"Boy, you're crazy. I got the sheriff to mark out a route for you. We'll drop it to you. It'll take you seven days to make it by the best route. Dispatch."

"Don't bother, I set it out by the shortest route by the marked trails. I've been up for ten hours now. If I stay here for the rest of the day and night, the fire will be past me. I can start out at gray dawn and it'll take me forty-eight hours to make the trip. I don't need to sleep. I can make a forced march and be at pickup in forty-eight, I repeat, forty-eight hours. Over."

"Sheriff Haskins here. Do not. I repeat, do not make a forced march. You are not, repeat not AWOL. You are not in trouble with us. Take your time. We do not, repeat not want you to force yourself past your limits. Over."

Heero sat for a minute and digested that.

"Oh-one here. Affirmative on no forced march. I'll be one hundred sixty eight hours plus or minus two hours. I'll be traveling from these coordinates through . . . " Heero gave the sheriff a complete list of the coordinates he was going to use as trip markers. "I'll be in deep forrest for most of the trip. There are no places to pick me up between here and the appointed pick up. oh-one over."

"Dispatch here. We want to eye ball you as often as possible. What are you wearing? Dispatch over."

Heero had a very odd feeling, he'd never had to give out such information before and it made him hesitate

"Dispatch to Oh-one. You still there? Dispatch."

"Affirmative. Oh-one here. I'm wearing denim jeans, denim jacket, and dark green short sleeved t-shirt. Black work boots. Over."

"Damn. You don't have anything bright orange, red, or yellow, do you? Dispatch."

"Negative. Oh-one."

"Any signaling device? Over."

"A mirror. Over."

"If you hear a fly by, flash them. Over."

"Affirmative. Over and out."

"Good luck. Dispatch out."

Heero climbed over the ridge and worked his way down the other side. After a few minutes walk, he found a place to camp. He set up the tent and made his camp carefully. He wouldn't make a fire. It was too dry and he didn't want fire on this side of the ridge, especially if it was his fault. So he made a cold camp and ate ration bars and drank hot chocolate, courtesy of Draden's heat tabs. He'd found several of them in his pack. They were one of the reasons he'd kept the flat billy can cup. Right now he really wanted the little pack stove he'd tried to bring.

The next morning he crawled out of the tent to an overcast sky and chill dew. He packed up and ate ration bars on the move. Then he stuck a heat tab to the side of the billy and dumped cocoa mix in it. The cold water didn't mix very well but he knew when it got hot it would stir up. He held the cup as he walked, having little trouble keeping it level even on the rough trail. This is going to be a cake walk. I can't believe they're telling me to take a full seven days to make this hike. Cushy. Seven days? snort

He hiked in, what was for him, a leisurely fashion until noon, then he stopped and settled down to eat an MRE. Heero sighed, this was really what he'd been hoping for when the warden Headmaster my ass said he was going camping. Not even running from a fire was going to ruin this. The weather was good. The nights were chill but not frigid, when the sun came up and the fog and dew burned away it was almost hot. He knew he was going to have to be careful not to burn. The sun at this altitude was a lot stronger than you might expect.

Opening his MRE Heero saw that it was Beef Stroganoff, not his favorite, but good. He wasn't sure why they put hot chocolate excuse me. Chocolate flavored hot beverage powder in it but he was happy to be able to sit down and eat without having to set perimeters and worry about being shot at. There was also a piece of pound cake for desert. He wished Duo was there to offer to trade for his fruit cup. They always seemed to wind up with Heero trading Duo his cake for Duo's fruit.

At the thought of Duo Heero felt a tightening in his chest. It hurt that he wasn't going to get to see Duo, maybe after a while he could come visit. He didn't realize how close they'd come, only missing each other by the turn of a head. If the pilot had seen his group, he and Duo would have been in the same chopper.

He finished his lunch and got back on the trail, he checked his map and GPS. He was making good time and had cut at least three hours off his ETA so far.

He felt good, strong and confident. This was going to be easy, easier than any mission had ever been.

Late afternoon saw Heero coming to his first exchange point. The point where he had to change trails. This one was the hardest of them, he hadn't told the Sheriff but he was going to have to ford a stream. The water was cold and running fast. He managed to make the ford without wetting his pack, but every stitch of clothing he had on was wet. He looked at the sun and since it was high he knew he had time to strip off and put them out to dry.

When the chopper flew over he just waved, completely forgetting he was nude. The pilot flew over again and dropped a capsule. Heero picked it up and found a map and a small flare gun.

The note told him to follow the trail on the map and not to use the flare gun unless he was injured so badly that he was unable to travel.

When Heero looked at the map the trails the sheriff marked were almost the same as the one's he'd marked except he was to make a four mile detour to get to a bridge over the river. But that detour would put him way too close to the fire for his comfort. He was glad he'd already forded the stream before he got the map. He wasn't good a disobeying orders.

Heero lounged in the sun and checked his clothing. He enjoyed the simple activity of sitting in the sun thinking about nothing in particular. He knew he was going to have to make up some time but since he was ahead of his ETA he wouldn't have to push too much. He didn't realize that the sheriff had allowed him a week to hike out thinking his confidence was misplaced. And the pilot seeing him naked was going to cause some consternation back at the HQ. If he'd heard the sheriff cursing, he'd have laughed.

But as it was, he didn't know any of this so he didn't worry about it. Instead he set himself a pace that he could keep up all day without strain and started down the mountain again.

He traveled for the rest of the afternoon and near dusk started looking for a place to camp again. He knew he was going to have trouble for the next two days. There was little level ground and no safe place to make a fire. So, instead of even trying, Heero made cold camp again and just set his tent, put out the sleeping bag and went to sleep the minute the sun went down.

He maintained this routine for the next two days and made three more exchange points, they were all easy all he had to do was make the right turn. Late the afternoon of the third day he had to make the second hardest exchange. He wondered if the sheriff knew that this exchange was a free climb down a forty foot cliff (He didn't).

Heero sat on the edge of the cliff and enjoyed the updraft that blew his hair into his eyes and tugged at his shirt. He took stock of the next part of the trail. He could see quite a bit of it from were he was sitting. After he got down the cliff he was going to be in flat country and the trail was hard packed and clearly marked. This was the part the sheriff hadn't understood. When he was on flat ground Heero could maintain a pace of six miles an hour for up to thirty hours without rest. And that was taking it easy. If he really pushed it he could travel for several days snatching naps as he could and eating on the run.

Heero took his time climbing down the cliff, he didn't want to fall. He probably would break at least one bone and he didn't want to break a leg. Duo would have a fit. He still nagged about him setting his leg himself.

At the bottom he checked his map and realized if he pushed it just a little he could spend the night in a line shack that belonged to the ranch he was on. It was going to be a long hard haul but he thought it would be worth it because he could spend the next day there resting and, dare he, fooling around a little.

He made the line shack sooner than he had though he would because the trail was so smooth. When he got there, he saw that it was a one room building constructed of logs but it was well chinked and weather tight. There was a pan instead of a sink and the running water was him running for water, but all in all, it was nice. The stove was well maintained and there was wood for it. There wasn't any food but he had plenty and the water barrel was full, so he'd didn't have to go for water.

There was a note on the table underneath a cup.

"If you use the shack. Please refill the wood box and water barrel. The stove draws hard so don't use too much wood or you'll roast yourself out. Water comes from the creek down the hill. Please leave it like you found it. The men who use this shack work hard and don't deserve to have to fill up before they can rest.

Thank you."

Heero made up a fire and put some water on to boil. He was going to have a hot meal and a warm wash before he went to bed. When he got up, he was going to waste a day exploring the area around the shack. He just hoped he didn't get in trouble when the sheriff found out.

The stream at the foot of the path was wide but shallow, except in one spot, where a Willow had been uprooted. The tree was still alive, just nearly flat to the ground. The top showed that it had been down for several years at least, it had started to grow upright again. Where the root ball had been was a deep hole shaded by the still living tree. Heero eyed the spot eagerly. I wonder if there are any fish in there.

Heero made four trips to the stream and filled the water barrel completely. He also took the time to chop all the wood in the wood pile and stack it neatly, ready for the next man to use. He had no idea that he was doing something that no one else would have thought of. Most people who used the place only replaced what they used.

The water was warm by the time Heero was finished. He made up his dinner and put it back on the stove to stay hot while he took a hobo bath using the wash pan and a piece of soap he found on the shelf beside it. When he was sufficiently clean that he didn't feel like a walking mud ball he sat down at the table to eat. He finished eating and made sure that all his packaging was put into the stove to burn and turned to the bed.

There was only one but it was nice. It was made of local small logs pegged together to make a full size bed with a soft mattress and clean sheets. Heero slipped between them and pulled the blankets up. He snuggled down and curled up, falling asleep almost at once. His last thought was that Duo would love this place.

Morning found Heero rooting through his pack looking for coffee. He knew there were some real coffee grounds in there somewhere. He'd made sure to keep it, hoping for a chance to enjoy it somewhere along his path back to civilization.

"Ha! Thought you could hide from me did you. I'll have you know I've found eels far more slippery than a package of coffee." Heero smiled, if Duo knew he talked to himself he'd have a heyday. He made coffee in the pot he took off the shelf that served the shack as storage. It was good to have every thing where he could see it. He felt somehow that rummaging through this place's secrets was wrong.

Breakfast was a thing of beauty to Heero. He had spaghetti and meat balls and didn't have to feel guilty because he was eating dinner for breakfast. He liked spaghetti, he had to smile at the thought of what Quatre would say, never mind J; who would have punished him for breaking routine. He wondered vaguely if J was really dead and decided if he wasn't and showed his face he soon would be.

After carefully cleaning the dishes and sweeping out the shack Heero made a leisurely, wandering trip back to the stream. He stopped to look at some columbine and picked a plant that he'd never seen before. He'd press it in the map and look it up when he got back. His wanderings took him to the base of the willow tree and he examined the pool carefully. He was delighted to see that there were several fat trout in the waters. He watched them for some time, simply enjoying their sleek rainbowed sides and the slow sculling of their fins.

Looking at the sun he decided it was time to catch his lunch and get ready to take to the trail early the next morning. So he lay down on his stomach and put his hand in the water. He waited for a little while then began gently wiggling his fingers. Finally one of the fish noticed and came over to investigate this possible source of food. He grabbed the fish and knocked it in the head, killing it instantly.

He took it back to the shack and carefully gutted it, absently wishing for some bacon. But not having any he made do with some crisco from a can on the shelf. He fried the fish with salt and pepper. He knew Quatre would have done something elegant with lemon and such, but he was satisfied with salt, pepper and appetite. He took the plate out onto the porch and sat on the bench against the wall. Taking his time he ate, looked around, and watched the sky. The single fish was just enough to fill him up. He opened one of the MRE's and took out the cake, after thinking about it for a while he ripped the package open and took out the confection. Then he poked around int the meal pouch until he found the fruit. He put the cake on a plate and dumped the fruit over it. After the first tentative taste he had to exert some control to keep from bolting the whole thing in a few bites. Heero, don't eat it like you're afraid someone will take it. Small bites . . . chew well . . . makes it seem like more than it is.

More dish washing and cleaning still left Heero with plenty of time to go through the pack and reorganize it so he could find things again. He couldn't believe how quickly a pack could turn into a disorganized bundle of junk. Heero finished his self-appointed tasks, and after making sure the water barrel really was full, as well as the wood box, he went to bed early. Early to bed and early to rise drives Duo Maxwell out of his mind.

"Morning. Damn. Well . . . I'd better get going. And break the habit of talking to myself. They'll think I'm insane."

Heero made a mental note to quit that and made a breakfast of an energy bar and hot tea flavored beverage power, grimacing at the taste. I can see why they don't call it tea. He hit the trail as early as he could safely see. He wasn't about to chance an injury at this point. He decided he was bored and so he set a pace that would have had a good horse lathered. He stopped twice before noon to use the GPS and map to make sure he wasn't going off course. Noon saw him several miles closer to his objective and he heard a chopper hovering. It was still impossible for the chopper to pick him up. The scrub and young trees made an impenetrable layer overhead. They could see him but there was no way to drop him a line or land to pick him up. He flashed them that he was fine and they shouldn't waste resources checking up on him. He got a waggle and the chopper flew away.

Deciding to use the radio was an exercise in futility. He was still too far away from the sheriff's station. He could hear some of their broadcasts but it broke up so badly that he couldn't make sense of it. He absently wondered how long it would take them to replace the antenna the fire had destroyed and why they didn't just subscribe to satellite up links. That would be the most viable option but if there was a lot of iron ore in the mountain rocks it wouldn't be possible.

As he ran, he worked over the problem of communication in his head and tried to find some way to let Duo know he was safe. He was sure he was worried. If he knew what was going on that was.

The chopper flew over again and dropped another capsule. It contained a rather extensive lecture on wearing himself out for no reason and a bright orange jacket. It also contained several candy bars and a list of frequencies that he was to try to tune the radio to. Heero felt stupid; he remembered that the dispatcher had given him the same list. He wondered if he was losing his mind. He'd never forgotten something so important before. Duo would rag him endlessly about that. When he found out.

Heero took out the GPS and fiddled with the radio. After several tries he got a clear signal. It was a little faint but very clear.

"Oh-one to Sheriff's Dispatch. Oh-one."

"Sheriff's Dispatch to Oh-one. Read you Five by Five Over"

"Read you 10-1. Over."

"You're in a dead spot. We have several antenna down. Over."

"10-4. How many are 10-7? Over."

"Every one on that side of the valley. 10-12 for five. Over."

Heero kept moving. He didn't see any need to stop when he was moving slowly over level ground. The ridge he was on top of was fairly high ground but he was going to drop into a valley soon. Which was going to make the going rougher as he would be on a down hill slope again.

"Sheriff Haskins here. Oh-one. What's your ETA? Over."

"My 10-77 is, at present, one hundred hours plus or minus four. Over."

"Damnit, boy, where did you learn all that ten crap. I'm elected, so you'll have to speak clear, or I'm sunk. Over"

Heero smirked slightly, in his experience, elected officials were either very good or totally incompetent. This guy sounded like the former.

"Sorry. My ETA is four days more or less. Probably much less. Over."

"You're not in trouble. Your people know that you didn't try to escape. Slow down. You'll kill yourself. Over."

"I spent a full day resting up at that line shack. I'm good. Over."

"Damn, boy. How fast are you averaging? Over."

Heero did mental math.

"I'm covering approximately twenty miles a day. That's not even a marathon. If the terrain was better I could cover more ground, but you said I didn't need to hurry so I'm not. Over."

"If you keep that up you'll be here by late afternoon tomorrow. Over."

"I'm not sure that's right. I'm at check point eight on your map. Over."

"Yeah. Well we moved the advance camp. Fire's moving away from you now and we moved behind it." The sheriff gave Heero the new coordinates of the advance HQ and concluded his transmission with a sharp, "Over."

"I'll re compute my ETA and be back in five. Over."

Heero stopped, fished the map out of its pocket, found the new advance HQ and realized that he could make it by just after dark if he really pushed it.

"If I drop my pack and push hard I can be at your twenty by 9:00pm. Over."

"I told you not to do that. You lay over somewhere before it gets dark. Do not travel in bad light. Do you read me? Over."

"Read you. 10-4 that. Will be making camp in. . . . " Heero quickly consulted his watch. "approximately six hours. I'll be at your twenty by 10 p.m. tomorrow. That's going easy. Over."

"Son, I really hope you know what you're talking about. I don't want the headmaster coming down on me because you show up in bad shape. Over"

"What does he care? Over and out."

"Boy, you have no idea. Over and out."

Heero spent a few seconds wondering about what the sheriff had said. He couldn't conceive of the headmaster worrying about what shape he was in.

Little did either the sheriff or Heero know that he was going to be tested to the extreme very soon.

Heero continued his hike, slowing down just because he could. He decided if the sheriff was that adamant that he take his time, he was going to do exactly that, and really enjoy the hike. He slowed to what was, for him, a crawl. He looked around, watched the clouds, the birds, he even saw a chipmunk and took the time to stand and watch it for a while as it searched for seeds among the rocks. He couldn't help feeling slightly guilty for dawdling around like this but Duo would have told him out right, "'Ro if you're offered a free pass to fool around take it."

So Heero did. He dawdled and wandered, he actually went off the trail to look at a view and again just to examine a plant. He started down hill moving off the crest of the ridge and down the side into a valley. He had three more ridges to cross before he fell down into the valley. Then he had another forty miles to go to make it to the sheriff's advance station. He didn't expect anyone to do more than fly over from time to time as their flight plan allowed. He wasn't in any danger so they would expect him to walk out himself.

When it started getting dark Heero started looking for a place to camp. He wasn't going to do more than throw up his tent and sleep. Cold camp again. He had plenty of fire materials but he still wasn't going to risk setting a new fire on this side of the main ridge. He didn't want to have to run ahead of a fire.

The night went fast and Heero woke at first light, packed up, ate breakfast, and headed out again. He was planning his route and speed as he traveled at a leisurely pace. He'd tried the radio but he was out of range again and he wasn't too happy about that.

When he topped the first ridge he tried the radio and spoke with the dispatcher for a few minutes filling her in on his 10-20 and 10-77. When she replied that his location and ETA were of great interest to all the sheriffs' department he just gave her a 10-4 and cut communication. Then he sat down on a rock and fished out a candy bar. He wasn't allowed candy when he was young, Oden had discouraged eating it because it made his hands sticky and J hadn't allowed Heero much that was fun. So now he ate two bars at once, savoring the sweet chocolate and caramel. And he merrily cheated. He wasn't that fond of peanuts in chocolate, so he sucked the sweet gooey chocolate and caramel off and spit them on the ground, making a chipmunk very happy.

After washing his hands in a near by stream and drinking some water from it, he struck out on the next lap of his journey. There were still two ridges to cross and he knew that he wasn't going to make it as far as he'd first planned. But he wasn't going to worry about it, the sheriff had told him twice not to. He could talk to dispatch at the top of each ridge. When he finally got to the bottom of the range, he would be in a larger valley, called a basin, where he was sure he would be able to keep in constant radio contact.

He continued his trek for the next two hours and crested the second ridge. It was almost noon and he was making slow but steady progress. He stopped to look out over the area from a good vantage point. He'd had to make a detour and climb to get to it, but this detour saved his life.

What he saw had him swearing and groping for the radio. He called the dispatcher and told her the fire had jumped the ridge line and was on this side of it.

"Oh-one are you sure? Over."

"Damnit Dispatch, I'm seventeen not seven. I know fire when it see it. And the fire has definitely jumped the ridge and is in this valley. It's headed my way. Over."

"Is there any place to pick you up? Over."

"Negative. Sheriff Haskins would have sent a pick up if there was one. Over."

"I don't know what to tell you. Over."

"I'll tell you. I'm running ahead of the fire and I'm headed for Shadow Lake. It's my only chance. Over."

"You can't make it. It's too far. It's also completely changing your route over."

"Yes I can. You don't know what I can do if I have to. Over"

"I'll tell the sheriff. Expect a fly over. Dispatch over."

"Won't do any good I tell you. there's no place to land. over"

"fly over for fire location. they'll check on you. over.

"I"ll put on the jacket you sent but don't expect to see me. over"

"Dispatch out"

"Oh–one out."

Heero put the pack down and took out ration bars. Stuffing them into his pockets, he got out the hydration pack that was part of the backpack and filled it with the water bottles. He hadn't bothered before because he could stop to drink, now he wasn't going to have time. He filled it the rest of the way at the stream, adjusted the straps to keep it from rubbing blisters, and started off.

He set a pace that wasn't too hard just yet, he was going to wait for the fly over before he decided to, not exactly panic, he never did that; but perhaps get concerned was the right expression. So he traveled fast but didn't put much strain on himself just yet. If he started smelling smoke, he was going to push hard.

When the chopper flew by he waved but kept moving. The going was getting hard, as he was jogging up hill. He was glad he'd taken it easy the last days, this was going to be a fast run over bad terrain. The level, hard packed path was giving way to a rocky deer trail over rough terrain. Heero wondered if there was a god somewhere who's only reason for existence was to make life hard for Gundam pilots. Just then the chopper flew back by and dropped him another capsule. The note in it gave him coordinates that sent him straight for Shadow Lake I already figured that out, tell me something I don't know. and told him to go as fast as he could as the fire was burning out of control and moving fast, it had 'crowned', gone into the tops of the trees. Shit

Heero gave up any hope of taking it easy, he stepped up his pace to a ground eating lope and set his mind to keeping it up until he dropped from exhaustion. He didn't look very far down the slope, he had to keep his eyes on his feet or he'd fall. So when he ran around a huge bolder and nearly ran right over a bear he didn't bother to change directions. He just charged the bear with a scream that made the bear back up, trying to figure out what that crazy human was up to. Heero kept on running until he couldn't hear the bear, then he stopped for a five minute breather. Damn, just what I need. A pissed off bear on my trail. But he didn't hear the bear coming after him. Actually the bear wasn't interested in Heero, it was only interested in getting away from the fire. It kept on its way too.

The fire jumped the stream and made its way down the mountain side, building in intensity as it got further from the frost line. The further down the mountain it got; the denser the growth, the more fuel it had to burn. The more fuel; the faster it burned and it burned hotter. So while Heero was running up hill, he was moving down the mountain side, farther from the frost line and into a fuel rich environment.

Topping the last ridge late in the afternoon Heero took the time to check on the fire's progress. His heart fell into his boots, the fire was making it way down the last ridge, which put it no more than three miles behind him. Way too damn close for comfort. He was going to have to run or burn.

He set a pace that would have driven many men to their knees in the first hour. Holding the GPS in his hand he used it to keep himself on the correct heading and ran. The fire was catching up to him slowly but surely, he wasn't sure he was going to make it to shadow lake before the fire made it to him. Fuck. Duo I wish I'd told you I love you more often. I always thought that if we made it through the war there'd be plenty of time

The chopper flew over to check on him again. This time it was a different one. Heero looked at it and identified it as coming from the sheriffs department instead of forestry service. It had a bull horn and he heard the sheriffs voice.

"Son you better put some speed on. That fire is traveling at a good four miles an hour and jumping the ridge. We can't find anyplace to pick you up. I'm sorry. We'll keep checking on you and trying to find a pick up. God be with you."

Heero didn't bother to do more than wave at them. He concentrated on keeping his feet on the rapidly worsening trail. The trails he'd been on had been worked over for tourists, but the trails leading to Shadow Lake weren't tourist trails. They were merely deer trails that humans had taken over, marked out on maps, and used because they were there.

The trails to Shadow Lake were marked with the line for fair. Heero stopped for a quick drink, GPS check and a look at the map. He decided that whoever had classified the trail was a blasted optimist or hated hikers. The trails were terrible to down right nonexistent. But he kept on. He'd run through deep forrest without trails with Oz breathing down his neck, he could do this. He wasn't going to live through a war in order to be killed by a damn fire, no matter how big it was.

The fire was breathing down the back of his neck when he reached really flat ground. The trees were thicker, which was actually good, as there wasn't so much underbrush to deal with, but the fire was traveling in the tops of the trees still. It was making a sound like a freight train, creating its own winds, and generally making life miserable for Heero. The smoke was choking and ash swirled in the winds, blowing into his eyes and nose, making breathing even more difficult.

His final run was accomplished by dodging trees until he made it into the clearing surrounding the lake. He'd covered more ground in a five hour run than he'd planned on covering in two full days. He emerged at a point where the tree line was approximately half a mile from the lake, but the trees came right down to the lake in several places and the grass was dry, no more than tinder. Heero knew that his first impulse had been correct. He had to make it to the lake and get in the water before the fire reached him. He heard the chopper fly over and wished absently that the pilot would quit. The wash from the rotors was blowing smoke, ash, and sparks over him. The pilot realized what was happening and moved away. Heero realized that he was still trying to find a way to pick him up, endangering the chopper and himself. A wave off made the chopper move away, but not far. Heero waved him off again and pointed to the fire, still running. The pilot left after another eyeball.

Heero made it to the lake just ahead of the fire and waded into the water, then swam out until he was at least fifteen feet from the shore line. He could still touch bottom but he had plenty of depth to hide in and that was exactly what he did. As the fire swept over the lake, Heero submerged completely, watching the fire sweep over the surface of the water. He held his breath until he saw black spots dancing in his vision, then he came up ready to duck back under if he had to. But the fire was gone. He looked around and sighed. the lake was still fairly clean and there were a few animals in it but the fire had burned every tree around.

Heero swam to the opposite bank and climbed out. This was not good. The lake on this side was drinkable, so he filled the water pack. When he looked around, he realized that although the trees were burned there was still no place for the chopper to land. The smoking trunks of the burned trees were still upright. He just hoped the chopper pilot would be more careful, he didn't want a cinder in his eye or a spark down the back of his neck.

Both the GPS and the map were water proof and luckily the ration bars were individually wrapped. That meant that he was still in fair shape. He was wet, but he was on the down hill side of the lake. The trails were good, but there was no cover from the sun. he wasn't going to find a place to sleep tonight. The fire had made the ground too hot to sleep on and without tree cover it was going to get cold. Which seemed a contradiction in terms but he had no wish to bake one side and freeze the other. So he sat on a rock which wasn't too hot and stripped. He spread his clothes on another, hoping for them to be at least partially dry before the sun went down. It wasn't going to be strong enough to completely dry them as the smoke had made a pall over the basin which was blocking much of its strength. He looked at his watch and calculated that he had about two more hours of daylight before the sun went behind the mountains.

Heero decided to take the map and GPS and set out his route to the sheriffs advance station. When he activated the GPS it beeped. He realized that his habit of turning radios off was probably driving the sheriff's dispatcher crazy.

"Oh-one to Dispatch. I'm ok over."

"Damn it. Don't turn that radio off again. If the batteries die, we'll drop you more. Over."

"Sorry. I'm used to maintaining radio silence. Over."

"Radio . . . don't even want to know. Need 10-20 and 10-77. Over."

"10-4. 10-20 and 10-77 to follow. 10-12 over and out."

"Dispatch. 10-4 the 10-12. Over and out."

Heero checked his location and planned his route. It was almost a straight run down a logging road to the sheriff's advance HQ. The sun was down, but the road was wide. He wished for a flashlight then decided . . .

"Oh-one to Sheriffs' Dispatch. Over."

"Dispatch. Over."

"I need a flashlight. Over."

"Don't travel after dark. Make a camp. Over."

"Negative. Over."

"Oh-one, camp. Over."

"Where? The ground is too hot. I dumped my equipment, no tent, no bag. Over."

"Damn! I'll make arrangements. Over and out."

Heero continued to travel at the best pace he could manage in the rapidly deepening dusk. The chopper flew over and dropped him a bundle then left immediately. It was getting too dark for him to be in the air. Heero silently thanked the man for making a trip just to bring him a flashlight.

To Heero's silent delight, the bundle contained not only the requested flashlight but a sandwich, bottle of soda and a candy bar. The bundle itself was a dry jacket. He ate the sandwich and candy bar, drank half the soda and pulled the jacket over a bare chest. It was more comfortable than putting it on over a wet shirt. He balled the wet stuff up and strapped it to the back of the water pack then turned the flashlight on and started to walk.

He walked for most of the night and walked into the advance HQ at one a.m..

Walking up to a deputy he cleared his throat and watched as the man nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Where the hell did you come from?"

Heero just pointed

"But . . . the fire . . . stay right there!"

Heero didn't want to stay right there, he was tired, cold, still damp, and foot sore. His wet boots had blistered his feet. But he stayed where he was until the Sheriff himself came to him, giving the Deputy hell all the way.

"Boy you Heero?"

"Yes sir. I'm Winner-Yuy."

"Here, give me that." The sheriff took a blanket from someone and wrapped it around Heero, putting his arm around his shoulders the sheriff guided him to a tent.

"Here, sit down before you fall down." The sheriff stuck his head out of the tent and yelled "Where the hell is that medic? Get him in here, now."

Heero started to try to unlace his boots but the laces were knotted and wet, so he wasn't having much luck.

"Let me do that. You're exhausted."

Heero sat up straighter and couldn't help but give the sheriff a puzzled look. The only ones who'd ever taken care of him were the other pilots. He didn't expect help from anyone else. This man however, was clearly intent on stripping him, Doctoring him, and tucking him in. He gave Sheriff Haskins a rather bleary smile and let him.

Haskins got the boots off and left his socks, he didn't like the looks of the stains on them. He pealed Heero out of the rest of his wet clothes and turned him over to the medic. He refrained from remarking on the scars he saw, figuring if he needed to know, someone would tell him. He wasn't about to add to Heero's distress by asking personal questions.

Heero let the medic check him over and ask him stupid questions until he finally told him wearily, "If you can't remember who the regional governor is write it down. I'm tired, not concussed. If you really want to doctor an injury, check my feet."

The medic, who'd only been told that Heero was hurt, decided to give the sheriff a piece of his mind soon, then bent to removing Heero's socks. What he saw wasn't pleasant. Heero's feet resembled raw meat.

"Why didn't you stop?"

"Because I really didn't want to be bar-b-que. I out ran the fire. Can you fix me up, or do I have to do it myself?"

After spraying on aerosol antiseptic, the man gave Heero a pair of clean socks and told him to stay off his feet.

"Yeah thanks." Not much chance of that Heero managed to lie down for a few minutes. He was just beginning to drift off when the sheriff came in.

"Sorry boy. I hate to do this but it's regulations."

Heero rolled over on the cot and watched as the sheriff drove an anchor into the ground, attached a chain to it, and snapped a cuff around his ankle. He examined the arrangement calmly. If he needed to he could just snap the chain.

"Whatever. Do I get to sleep now?"

The sheriff realized that Heero was too tired to care much about anything.

Get some sleep boy. You look played out.

Aa. 'Night'

Heero groped for the blanket that had almost slid off the cot when he sat up. The sheriff patted him on the shoulder and . . . tucked him in! Heero gave him a genuine smile and went to sleep.

O 

"Son . . . Heero . . . you need to get up . . . Heero"

Heero woke to the sheriff tossing pine cones at him and calling him to wake up.

"Yes, sir I'm awake. Um . . . sir?"

"Now that you're awake, I'll take you to the jakes." The sheriff unlocked the cuff from Heero's ankle and waited as he reached for his boots.

"You ok to walk? The medic said your feet are really blistered."

"I'm ok. I don't think I'd like to make another forced march, but as long as it's only a few yards, I can make it. Thank you."

The sheriff reached out and took one of Heero's hands in his, he snapped a handcuff around his wrist and sighed.

"'They' say I have to cuff you. You're not AWOL, but you're outside your home facility. I'm sorry, son. I know this is humiliating, but I don't want flack. You don't need to be coddled either, or I miss my guess. Come on. If I walk too fast, tell me."

Heero let the sheriff lead him by the one cuffed wrist. He snorted as he realized that the sheriff thought holding the chain between the cuff around his wrist and the open cuff was going to be enough to hold him. Then smiled as he acknowledged that it was. He wasn't going anywhere except to the jakes.

"Ok son. Here we are. You'll have to do your business with one hand. Can you manage?"

At Heero's nod the sheriff reached into the chempot and cuffed Heero to a bar then shut the door.

Heero opened the door when he was finished, waited for the sheriff to unlock the cuff, and then hissed softly. He'd bumped his toes against something and it had hurt.

"Boy? You good?"

Heero looked at the sheriff and thought quickly, but not quickly enough

"Look, don't pull that I'm-tougher-than-leather crap with me. If you're hur,t say so."

"Yes, sir . . . I'm afraid I've been conditioned not to complain; but, unless it's really necessary, I would appreciate not having to walk too far."

The sheriff looked at Heero's feet and realized that his boots hadn't survived the trek combined with a soaking. They were broken across the toes and the sides were stiff. The trip had taken its toll

"Shit . . . Well, hell, I'll have to carry you."

The sheriff reached out and scooped Heero up into his arms. Now, the sheriff was a big man, and Heero was still small for his age, he still felt silly but didn't protest 'Ro if someone wants to take care of you let them, especially if they don't have to.

When they reached the main tent the sheriff was panting slightly, Heero was all muscle and heavier than he looked. But Haskins was made of stern stuff, so he managed to put Heero down gently. The minuted he regained his feet Heero knew he was, as usual, healing fast. His feet didn't hurt near as much.

"Sheriff? . . . I need some information. You told me several times I'm not in trouble. So why the cuffs?"

The sheriff was looking around trying to find a something to handcuff Heero to. "Humm? Cuffs? . . . oh, it's a departmental regulation. I think, in your case, it's pretty much a waste of time. But if I let you slide then someone who don't deserve it will want to slide too. And it makes a bad precedent. Sorry. . . . damnit."

Heero nodded his understanding and picked up the chair. He moved it to a place near one of the support poles, then plucked the open cuff from the Sheriff's hand and snapped it around the pole. This put him out of the way of traffic but still where he could be seen easily.

"Will this do, Sir?"

"Boy, you're a pistol. I never saw the like. You hungry? Stupid question, boys your age are always hungry. And I know you didn't have anything but energy bars and MRE's. Not much good for a growing boy. How old are you? I got a sheet on you somewhere, but I'm not wasting time looking it up."

Heero looked at the sheriff for a second then asked, "What difference does it make?"

"None, really. I just wondered. You act so old."

"I'm seventeen."

"Damn.."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I'll try not to be any trouble."

The sheriff just shook his head, remarking that he didn't think Heero would be trouble. Then he just walked off, telling Heero he'd get him some breakfast.

Soon the sheriff was back with a plate and a cup. He looked around and grumbled, "How the hell are you gonna eat cuffed to a pole?"

Heero thought for a second, then said, "Well . . . you could cuff my hands behind me and put it on the ground."

He thought the sheriff was going to either explode or have a stroke. he'd been joking but his expression hadn't changed enough for a stranger to realize that.

"What the hell. Who? Boy . . . you better be joking."

"I was. I'm sorry. My friends are used to me. I forgot to smile."

"Damnit. I still get the impression that someone really made you eat off the floor, and I want to know who it was . . . now. I won't stand for abuse, even if it's not in my jurisdiction."

"Oh. It was during the war. I was a POW of Oz. They aren't known for their kindness."

The sheriff just shook his head, he'd heard stories, as all law enforcement had, and he didn't like any of them.

"Well I hope it was investigated. Here. Lorna . . . come here and sit with him while he eats. Then cuff him again."

The female sheriff's deputy came over, sat down next to Heero and just watched as he ate his breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. Then she cuffed him back to the pole, remarking, "If that's too tight, let someone know. If your fingers start to tingle or get cold, yell. No Mr tough guy, all right?"

"Yes Ma'am. Um . . . could you tell me when I'll be picked up. I don't want to be a problem to you. You've got plenty to do besides baby sit me."

The lady deputy smiled at him and reached out to pat his head. He had to force himself not to duck away. He didn't want to offend her, she'd been nice to him so it wouldn't be right to hurt her feelings. Hee-kun, don't hurt the feelings of people who're trying to be nice to you. It's bad

"You don't worry about that. You've had a hard few days. The headmaster is coming to get you as soon as he can. He'll be here in a couple of hours. Just relax. If you want more coffee just ask. If you need anything else, we'll see what we can do. Ok?"

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"Honey, stop calling me Ma'am. Makes me look behind me for my Mom."

Heero blinked then nodded. "Ok. Sorry."

O 

Headmaster Compton arrived shortly before noon. He'd started out at seven a.m. and driven straight through, taking one guard with him. He didn't think Heero would be any trouble, but regs were regs.

"Hello, Sheriff Haskins, I'm Headmaster Compton and this is Mr. Trent. We have come for young Mr. Winner-Yuy. I understand he was brought in late last night."

"Well Pardner. You got it about half right. You been gettin' our updates?"

"Yes. They were very thorough."

"Well someone missed something in that last one then. He walked in on his own at one this morning. How that boy managed to keep from gettn roasted I'll never know. He out ran that fire and made a hike in like four days, that I'd want at least a week to make."

Mr. Trent, who'd worked with Heero some, just shook his head. "Boy's like a machine. Strong, fast and tough. But he's less trouble than any of the other boys. Just keeps to himself and stays out of trouble."

The sheriff led them to Heero, who was still cuffed to the tent pole, drinking coffee and looking around with interest. The HQ was well managed and he was happily storing up procedures in his head. Not that he'd ever use them but . . . you never knew. Besides, it was better than just sitting there staring into empty air.

"Hello Heero. How are you doing?"

"Fine, Sir. I'm sorry I was so much trouble. I hope you weren't too worried."

Mr. Trent just took the key from the sheriff and unlocked the cuff, then took the set off the pole and handed it to the sheriff. Headmaster Compton sighed and shook his head, he'd hopped the sheriff would reassure Heero that he wasn't in any trouble.

"Heero, we were all worried sick. I can't believe you did what you did. You should have . . .well, water over the dam."

"Sir. Please. If you have a question, ask it. I don't want to be in trouble."

"Why didn't you get in the chopper?"

Mr. Trent busied himself with getting Heero ready for transport. Which included leg irons.

The sheriff took exception to them immediately.

"Here, that's not necessary. He's come in on his own. Take it easy on the kid."

Mr. Trent sighed he didn't like this any more than the sheriff did, but, "I'm not happy either. But his paperwork hasn't caught up with him yet, so we don't have a profile. That means, per regs, we take the highest precautions. I know it doesn't make sense to send him on a camping trip then shackle him for transport, but whoever said the penal system makes sense."

Heero just allowed the man to do his job. It didn't hurt so what difference did it make.

"Well if you're through torturing the poor kid, let's get it on the road."

Sheriff Haskins gathered Heero into his arms and started for the door. It looked pretty odd, a great big bear of a man carrying a slender kid in full transport shackles. Never mind that the kid in question was the Heero Yuy, scourge of Oz and White Fang.

Heero squinted his eyes against the bright sun and turned his face into the sheriff's chest to protect them from it.

The headmaster following behind, demanded to know what was going on and got a reply from Trent who told him to look at the boots. When he did, he was smart enough to know that Heero had to have blistered his feet rather badly. He told Trent to make sure that Heero saw the school Doctor as soon as they got back.

The media descended in a feeding frenzy that made Heero flinch instinctively. Several reporters thrush microphones of various descriptions in his face, yelling questions without giving him time to answer. The sheriff roared them down and demanded silence.

"I'm not having you all scare the wits out of the boy. He's had enough to deal with without you idiots sticking things in his face while he's cuffed." Turning to the headmaster, he demanded, "What you want to do about this pack of wolves?"

Headmaster Compton, still dealing with unanswered questions of his own, looked at Heero.

Heero shrugged, "It's up to you, Sir. I'll talk to them if you want me to."

Compton decided if Heero was ok with it so was he.

"I'll speak to the young man, then you may have sometime." Compton turned to Heero. "I have Draden's version of what happened. Now I want yours. Make it fast and keep it short."

"Ok. Jamie banged on the partition. The pilot took off. Pete was still with me on the ground. I knew I could walk out and he couldn't. So I made sure he was on the chopper. I couldn't get both of us on, so I chose him."

"Damn. I'm going to have some more words with that Jamie boy. You answer questions until you get tired or I stop you."

"Yes, Sir."

Heero turned to the reporters and waited. While the headmaster had been questioning him the reporters had sorted themselves out. With some shouting and snarling by the Sheriff.

"Why are you in chains?"

"I'm still a convict. It's regulation."

The next reporter asked a much more important question. "How did you manage to get left behind?"

"There was a misscommunication between the back and the pilot. One of the other boys banged on the partition and the chopper took off. I knew that they wouldn't be able to land again before the fire got to us so I threw Pete to Sargent Draden. They had to keep going."

"Aren't those chains uncomfortable?"

Heero gave the persistent reported the look that Duo called the Omae o Kurosu Special, he faded into the crowd and shut up.

"Sorry about him, he's a pest. Now. How did you get to the camp?"

"The camp? We flew in."

"No, this camp."

"Oh you mean the HQ here. I hiked."

Heero was beginning to get a headache. He wished he hadn't agreed to this, but since he had, he'd answer one more question.

"I'm getting tired, my feet are sore and I'm only going to take one more question, so make it a good one."

"What are you in for?"

Heero gave the man a look, but the looks that all the other reporters gave him, rivaled it.

"Crimes against society. Like . . ." The headmaster poked him gently in the back. "er . . . tee-peeing the courthouse or . . . um . . . hacking into a bank computer and messing up something important. I've been signaled that that's all. Thank you."

Heero turned to the headmaster who was giving him a funny look. "Did I do ok? I'm sorry if I said something I shouldn't. Are we leaving now?"

"Yes we're going now. I hope some of your family sees you on tv. You know you could have said 'Hi Mom' or something."

Heero just shrugged. As they made their careful way to the van, with the sheriff carrying Heero again, Heero managed to make several hand signs that he hoped wouldn't be cut from the vid feed.

When they finally got to the van, the sheriff put Heero down and patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry you had such a bad visit to our county. When you get out, come back and I'll show you around."

"Thanks. I'll see you in twenty years or so."

"Twenty years? Boy what the hell did you do, shoot . . . don't answer that. Just . . . what was the actual sentence?"

"Two ten year sentences. one for crimes against society and one for manslaughter."

"Hump! Hell of a sentence to stick on a kid."

The headmaster just sighed, "Drunk, stupid kid kills in auto accident." This was not good.

"Ok Sheriff, you want to break the news, or can I?"

"You're his warden, you do it. But I get to stand here and watch."

The headmaster smiled, put his hand on Heero's shoulder and patted it.

"Well son unless I'm sadly mistaken, the sentences run concurrently" Heero just nodded. "and you spent some time incarcerated before you went to trial?" Heero told him how long they'd been cooped up in Quartes estate. "Concurrent means that the sentences run together, so that makes your sentence 120 months, subtract 9 equals 111. Ten percent of that is eleven. That's how long you'll have to wait until you're eligible for parole. Due to your young age I don't doubt that you'll be granted on first try. Especially if you keep your nose relatively clean. So . . Now son. Take it easy. Let's get you into the van, you don't need all these reporters staring."

The sheriff was pleased to see Heero smiling a real, genuine smile, even though he had tears in his eyes. They got Heero into the van and slammed the door. The sheriff banged on the side of the van and they drove away.

O 

Quatre ran through the door yelling, "Everyone! Hey! Heero's on tv. Hurry."

Duo nearly broke down the door getting into the lounge. He jumped the back of the couch and landed on his ass on the seat, Wufei right behind him. Trowa was so close behind them that he nearly landed on Wufei.

"Look, look. What the hell happened to him? He looks like he just got back from a hard mission. Shit. They're not taking care of him."

By the time they listened to the announcer tell the story and saw the clips. They were all thinking the same thing. Trust Heero to make sure everyone else was safe and take the dirty end of the stick for himself.

Then the announcer finished with "The brave young man had to be carried back to his prison van by Sheriff Haskins because he blistered his feet so badly he can't walk. And he so bravely waved good by to the Sheriffs Deputy's who kept him over night."

Duo blinked. "Quatre. Tell me you recorded that . . . please. I missed some of it."

"I can do you one better than that. I can get the raw footage. That station belongs to Winner Communications."

Ten minutes later they were watching Heero signal them, "Pilot one hundred percent. Baby, I love you. Be happy. Check mail."

O 

I hope that makes up for the evil cliffie. To all those who want them to get together they will. But not for a while yet. There will be several more chapters. You'll get several chapters where Heero and Duo experience approximately the same event with very different results.

Radio conventions really do work just like this. I've listened to hours of real police and fire radio. It is really kind of boring. I only heard a dispatcher get upset enough to break conventions once.


	6. Prohibited Substances Pt I

Price prohibited substances

Authors notes: to Rude 02. Some DA's yes. But others wouldn't know a defendant from a frog; the difference between a suit and tie clad neatly combed Heero and a frazzled tired boy in sheriff department fatigues would make plenty of difference. If he even saw the news. He's probably too busy harassing some other high profile case to watch news of a forrest fire, there's no publicity in it for him. But thanks for your kind review.

also thanks to Lady Katasha, MANS, Meliza Mac, Nekuyasha, Megumi 10, faith allen, and anyone I may have missed. Your kind reviews make my night.

Xx

Heero eyed the box with a look of distain. The Headmaster had asked him to take an interest in Pete after their disastrous camping trip and he'd agreed to do what he could. That included helping him to put this model together.

Heero couldn't understand why anyone would want a mobile doll model. It was just silly. It wasn't even in scale. The buster was also the wrong type. He was sure it was the one Epyon used.

"Isn't it cool? I really wanted Deathsythe, but Mom said she couldn't get one. So I guess I'll just be glad she got anyone at all. Look it even has a tube of glue. It's almost impossible to keep one of these snap together things together unless you glue it too."

Heero eyed the bits of plastic with some misgiving. Something was – not right here – but he wasn't sure what it was. Something was nagging at the back of his mind.

"You get started on this. You need to cut the pieces from the trees and trim them. The guard has allowed us to have a craft knife. But only for an hour, and we have to use it at the guard station. You go there and do this part of the job. I want to connect and check my email."

Pete sighed. After the fiasco of the camping trip Heero had been made a trustee. He was sending open emails to some friends of his. Pete wished he could email his parents but they had special filters that prevented any spam and the signature on his emails was spam as far as the program was concerned. He'd been forbidden to change anything in their computers so he couldn't mail them without getting into trouble. Like Heero he was determined to keep himself out of trouble so he could get out early on good behavior.

Heero had been in touch with Duo for the better part of two weeks now. Exchanging emails in the open. The Headmaster had made Heero and Pete both trustees which meant that they could have a computer here in the room of course it was closely monitored but neither of them were sending anything that couldn't be read by the authorities.

Heero however couldn't bring himself to send more that I'm ok l love you mail. Duo sent chatty stuff about what he'd done that day. Heero had to smile neither one of them felt comfortable sending anything they considered 'sensitive' so they only sent chatter but it was better than nothing.

Heero had managed to get the Headmaster to allow Pete to room with him. The other boys Petes age were harassing him and making his life miserable. He was way too smart to be rooming with a couple of jocks so Heero got him moved in with him. Pete was happier than he'd been in a long time Heero was his hero (he had to laugh at that) they got along well. Heero wasn't talkative but Pete wasn't really much of a chatter box either. He wanted to do his homework, chores and not be bothered. So did Heero. They were in most of the same classes. When Pete had told Heero about cleping a class Heero had seized on that with a soft snort. He'd managed to test out of several classes that were requirements and was now happily going through the books for several more.

"Heero, the head master wants to see you. He's not happy so you better hurry."

Heero didn't bother to close down his computer, he wouldn't be gone very long and there wasn't anything sensitive in it anyway.

"Heero. How's Pete doing? I've gotten a complaint from his mother. She thinks he's being harassed."

Heero nodded. "He was, Sir."

The Headmaster waited for Heero to elaborate. Finally he gave an encouraging nod and waited again. Heero realized that he needed to explain better.

The boys in his age group are all jocks or thugs. Not much brains to go around the bunch of them. They pick on him. that's why Anderson asked to put him in with me. I'll be better for him. I don't expect him to do things he can't and I help him with things he wants to do." Heero smirked slightly. "He wants to learn to keep up with my exercise routine. It won't happen but I'm glad to teach him. He's no bother. And the other boys know better than to mess with him . . . now."

I see. Well . . . I'll reassure his mother. Heero, you are a very unusual young man. I'm not used to dealing with your sort here. You're responsible and reliable. I still don't quite believe that you did what you did. It's incredible. I want you to make it here. So far you've done very well. The only complaints we have are you don't socialize well. And some of the boys seem to be afraid of you."

Heero shrugged slightly. "I don't want trouble. I don't want to socialize with a certain element that is here. It can only lead to trouble. Trouble I don't need. The one's who are afraid of me tried things they shouldn't have. I discouraged them. "

I see. Well . . . we don't want fighting but if you don't start it we usually try not to interfere with interpersonal relationships. If you understand me. Don't start anything.

I never start anything but I'm not going to lie down and take it. I'll try really hard not to harm anyone. I hope that is acceptable.

Headmaster Compton sighed." That will have to be won't it?"

Heero ducked his head, hiding behind his bangs. "Yes, Sir. I'm sorry to be so much trouble."

"Don't think that for a second. You're less trouble, when you're being trouble; than some of these boys are when they're not."

Heero wondered not for the first time why someone who'd gotten a break like winding up at Fitzroy would mess up. He was not exactly happy here but not miserable either. He wasn't going to take a chance of being sent somewhere else. If he could keep out of major trouble for another three hundred and twenty-five days he'd be eligible for parole. And Anderson had told him when he'd asked that he was going to get it unless he really screwed up.

"I won't tell you not to fight, you wouldn't obey me. I well tell you that, unless it's self defense, you're in big trouble. We still haven't gotten your records, and I'm not fool enough to ask you. I won't tempt you like that. I will say that our observations have shown that you are disciplined, self starting, extremely intelligent and astonishingly self contained. Whatever you were before you came here. I don't see you as some common vandal. Whatever trouble you're really in. It stayed outside the gates. Do you understand me?"

Heero gazed at Mr. Compton for a few moments. "Yes, Sir. I think I understand. I would like to thank you for your treatment of me. I'm afraid that I expected something completely different when I first came here. You've actually been kind to me. On a different note I'd like to talk to you about Pete." At the headmasters nod Heero continued "He doesn't belong here. His health isn't good. He has some kind of breathing problem. I'm not sure what it is. He isn't as strong as he should be. If he has some kind of medical problem I'd like to know about it. I'm a trained field medic. If something happens to him, I need to know about any preexisting condition so I can help him.

Pete is the son of one of our ESUN representatives. His Father is old school and doesn't believe in special treatment for members of his family, which I respect. But Pete has low lung capacity. He was raised in low gravity and his lungs just aren't up to full gravity and he's struggling. The condition is lessening but it's going to be slow going and he doesn't react well to dust. We're not set up for people like him. He should have been sent to a boarding school for rich first time offenders but his father wanted to teach him a lesson. I'm glad you decided to take him under your wing. " Mr. Compton didn't understand Heero's slight smile.

"He reminds me of someone dear to me. I'll take care of him. I don't need to fight on my own behalf and I won't need to fight on his. All I have to do is let certain people know that I'm displeased.

Compton cleared his throat and smoothed his desk pad. "I see." He handed Heero a reader. "I want you to read this. There's no hurry. It's the full rules of this school. Been around for years. I want you to be a bailiff for the facility student court."

Heero simply took the reader and nodded. He stood, went to the door and opened it. Then he turned back and said softly. "I'll try not to let you down. Thank you."

When he got back to the room Heero noticed that Pete was still at the guards station working on the MS pieces. He dropped the odds and ends of the kit back into the box and put it on his shelf Petes shelf was too crowded with books and action figures as well as pictures for him to add one other thing. Heero's shelf contained one picture, four books and the box.

Heero opened a file and started typing. He used a bat board instead of a key board and he could type with one hand and do other things with the other. In this case he was holding up a page to which he refereed from time to time. If he got his home work done in time, he could IM Duo for an hour. They'd gotten over their paranoia about that when they'd discovered a relatively little used forum and found out that the cache was tiny. It would dump their messages after only ten lines.

Pete stumbled in the door, his hands full of parts in plastic bags. He dumped the whole mess on his desk and scuffled around looking for something.

"Heero, how can you type on that thing? And what are you working on?"

"I've been typing on this, thing as you call it, all my life. I don't use a regular key board unless it's necessary. And I'm working on a paper on obscure and obsolete laws, rules, and regulations. Mr. Compton gave me this e-reader with all the regulations of the facility and I thought it would be a good paper for history since I have to know them anyway. I'm going to be a bailiff. If you can believe it. Did you know that it's still illegal to force your wife into a two-seat car in LA? Some of these laws are so old they've got mold on them."

Pete eyed Heero for a second wondering if he was joking, but then decided he wasn't. He didn't know if Heero knew how to joke. So he leaned over Heero's shoulder and read the monitor.

"Holy shit. It's still legal to flog your servants in china? That . . . that's just nasty. And stupid. Just fire them."

"It's not always that easy. Social obligations some times make it hard to get rid of a servant and if they are a debt servant you don't want to get ride of them. So . . ."

"Well . . . lock them up for a while."

Heero sighed, he knew Pete wasn't trying to be difficult, he was just young and didn't see things the same way as the old time law makers did. Which wasn't such a bad thing, now that Heero thought about it.

"Why the sigh, you'll wear your lungs out."

"To answer your questions . . . You're too innocent for your own good. And, as to locking them up . . . if you lock them up, they can't work; you're wasting resources feeding a non working WB, and many servants in that era would do things to get locked up. They worked long hours for no pay, didn't have days off, and shared beds. Think about it."

Pete thought, then nodded. "I see. It makes sense, now that you explain it. But still."

"If you had a choice; which would you do?"

"I'd rather be locked up. Well, I . . . am, come to think of it. What about you?"

"I think I'd rather be beaten."

"What?" Pete looked shocked

"It's over much more quickly. It . . . I heal quite quickly and I would have a hard time locked up. Especially in solitary confinement. Not being able to see the sky or stars. I don't think I could do that for long. Not again."

Pete wisely changed the subject.

"Well . . . I got all the pieces trimmed. What do we do now?"

Heero examined a few of the pieces. Pete had done a good job with them. They were neatly trimmed.

"Very good. The next thing we do is check the fit of each piece with it's guzinter." Heero waited for Pete to bite.

"It's what? What's a guzinter."

"It's the piece the piece in question goes in to." Heero smirked at Pete's exaggeratedly shocked expression.

"That's a groaner. But . . . oh shit! I forgot. I've got six chapters of history to read. And a bunch of calculous to do. That maths teacher is a bear. He must think he's the only one who assigns homework."

"You can do it. All you have to do is sit down and concentrate. I'll finish my emails and my home work. If you have any questions I'll be glad to see if I can help."

Pete smiled at Heero. He was glad to have such a room mate. His old one's had been more trouble than anything else. They'd done nothing but torment him about his size, his father and his connections. His intelligence and anything else they could think of. They couldn't understand why they constantly had bowel problems or stomach aches.

Heero shut his computer down and sighed. He'd spent the last ten minutes IM-ing with Duo. They'd caught up a lot in the last few days. And Heero was glad to hear that all the others were doing well. He couldn't believe that Quatre had actually hired them all. Duo in a suit was a vision in his head that made him sigh.

"'s matter, Heero. Bad news? If you like I'll see if my Dad will put in a good word for you."

Heero shook his head. "That's not necessary. It wasn't bad news. Just . . . I really miss Duo and my other friends. They're all together at one of Q's estates. I don't believe it, but my best friend is working for Winner Enterprises. It's really strange. You know?"

"Yeah." Pete assumed a wise expression. "I bet it does seem strange. Too bad you can't be with them."

Heero looked at the calender on the wall. Pete had made it for him. Just under neath the date was a number counting down the days until he was eligible for parole. "Soon."

"Yeah. And I am going to have my Dad put in a recommendation for you. It can't hurt that an ESUN Representative sent in a rec."

Heero checked his notes and gathered the pages together. He had taken them on the e-book that he'd been given. His paper was coming along well and he was hoping to be given a pass on this class. He wanted to take quantum mechanics and he had to clear his schedule of three hours of classes in order to do so.

"Thanks. I appreciate that. I"ll help you with that model after supper. Come on."

"Ok, but tonight is goulash. You want mine? I hate it. Mystery meat." Peter shuddered dramatically.

"Not either. It's formed and textured soy protein compound."

"And what the hell is that?"

"Don't swear." Heero poked Pete in the arm with his finger.

Pete sighed, he was so small that everyone forgot that he was almost sixteen. It bugged him.

After a supper spent ignoring the less desirable element of the school, if any of the inhabitants could be called desirable, Heero and Pete returned to their room to work on the model. Pete wanted the get it done in time for his parents visit in three days time. He didn't want his mother to think that he didn't appreciate her efforts in his behalf.

"She tried really hard. I think she just doesn't understand that all suits aren't alike. I'd really like to have had Deathsythe. But . . . "

Pete started picking over the pieces, trying to figure out what went where.

Heero got out the instruction sheet.. "when all else fails."

"Blow something up!" Pete gave Heero a silly grin.

"Read the instructions." Heero ruffled Pete's hair and sat down beside him.

They spent the next hour trying to get the pieces trimmed to fit. Heero had a more delicate touch than Pete. He seemed to always take off just that much too much. They were going to have trouble with this stupid thing no matter what. Little did Heero know how much trouble and how soon.

Heero woke the next morning and blinked at the wall calender he realized for the first time that in the lower right corner of each dated square was another number. Today was numbered ten. Ten? Heero couldn't think what significance that might have.

Pete grumbled as he fought his way to wakefulness. He woke slowly and rather noisily, grumbling and moaning. Morning and Pete were not friends. Heero watched with some amusement and realized that while Duo would sleep if he could; he woke quickly and quietly.

"Pete, better get up. If you want a shower before the goon squad gets up, that is." Heero tossed a towel at Pete and gathered up his toiletries.

They showered together so that Heero could protect Pete from the 'shower shenanigans.' Heero thought it was ridiculous to torment each other with towel snaps and other such foolishness, as well as dangerous. The floor was slippery enough without coating it with shampoo and body wash in an attempt to make another boy look like a fool.

At breakfast the loud speaker announced that both Pete and Heero were wanted back at their quarters. When they arrived, there were two Guards at the door waiting for them.

"These your quarters?"

The man's attitude set Heero's back up in an instant.

"Yes. Why?"

"I'll ask the questions." Heero bristled, but Pete just looked scared.

"Clark. Back off. " Anderson was the other guard and he didn't looks pleased in the least.

"Mr. Anderson what is going on?" Heero trusted Mr. Anderson but not the other man whom he didn't know.

"We've got a search order from the front office. Someone says that you have a prohibited substance. I'm sorry, but we have to look into it."

"I see. And could you tell me what that substance is? Sir." Heero knew they didn't have any drugs or other prohibited substances in the room, so he didn't worry too much.

"No, the kick was anonymous. You know how it goes." Anderson finally let his companion go into the room. "Mr. Clark will help me search so we can get this over with."

Mr. Clark, finally let off his leash, started tossing the room with brutal efficiency. He jerked the covers off Pete's bed and threw them on the floor. Pete yelped and Mr. Clark rounded on him with a snapped command only to be reined in by Mr. Anderson.

"Clark, cut it out. That's not the way we do things here. You just transferred in, so I'll let that slide. This is a minimum security facility and we run it on a completely different philosophy. We don't do anything to start trouble. Now. When we're through, I don't want this room to look any different than it did when we came in. Do you understand me?"

Clark sulked. There was no other word for it. But he nodded his head and grunted "Yeah."

Mr. Anderson took over and apologized to Pete. Heero started remaking the bed for Pete. And missed the next bit. He was brought back to awareness by a soft sigh.

"Ohh Heero. Damnit. Where did you get this kit?"

Heero froze. Prohibited substances? He hadn't bothered to look at the list. He didn't do any drugs so he hadn't thought it was necessary.

"It was sent in sealed. There shouldn't be anything in it that shouldn't be there."

Mr. Anderson took in Pete's white face and Heero's puzzled look. Mr. Clark just reached out and grabbed Heero. Who simply gave him a look of disgust.

"Let me go. Where do you think I'm going to run to?"

"You'll come with us without trouble."

"Clark, let go of him. I told you not to start anything. We don't grab unless they start to fight."

Pete got behind Mr. Anderson, he didn't want to be in the middle if Heero did decide to make a fight of it.

Mr. Anderson made the only decision he could. He gathered up the whole mess and took it to the Headmaster.

When he got a full report from a smart alec Clark, Mr. Compton just looked at the box then Heero

"This yours?"

Heero considered for a moment then said, "There are only two shelves in the room. It was found on mine."

Pete choked. "Heero. I . . ."

"Shut up."

Mr. Clark couldn't figure out what was going on so he stuck his foot in it.

"Someone's lying, I don't know why. That kid is getting out in ten days so I don't think he'd be stupid enough to have a . . ."

"Mr. Clark if you can't keep your mouth shut, you'll be asked to leave." Mr. Compton didn't like Mr. Clark and didn't care who knew it. He was a transfer from up state, sent to him as a last resort. He caused more trouble with his attitude than he was worth.

Heero sat so still that Mr. Anderson put his hand on his shoulder. Heero thought quickly. Pete was getting out in ten days. If he got a solitary, he'd be kept for the duration of that sentence. "Fuck"

"Son?"

Heero waited until Mr. Compton was through dressing Mr. Clark down.

"Excuse me, Sir. I'm sorry but . . . what are we talking about here. There aren't any drugs. And neither Pete nor I have a record of drug usage so . . ."

Mr. Clark snatched up the box and triumphantly produced the tube of glue. "Prohibited substance."

He smirked at Pete who turned completely white and started to wheeze.

Heero just glared at Clark with a later for you look that worried everyone but him.

"Pete, breathe. . . . easy." Heero pulled Pete out of the chair and wrapped his arms around him. He pressed Pete's head down on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Don't say anything. You'll get out on time. Let me handle it. I'll be ok. Hush."

Pete started to hiccup so Heero looked at Mr. Anderson. "I think he needs to go to the nurse. Will you take him? Please, Sir."

Mr. Anderson, who could read lips, just nodded. He wasn't too happy with this whole proceeding. If not for Mr. Clark they could have handled this a lot better. But he was a suck up and a tattler. He'd caused trouble wherever he was just because he could. So Mr. Anderson took Pete to the nurse and let Heero deal as best he could.

Heero waited until Pete was out of the room and then asked Mr. Compton if they could have a private conference. Without Mr. Clark.

"I don't like him and I don't want him privy to what I have to say." Heero pinned Mr. Clark with a look that would have made a smarter man think twice about opening his mouth.

"You don't tell us what to do, we tell you. I'm not going anywhere."

Mr. Compton finally had enough attitude and said so. He sent Mr. Clark to wait in the outer office, telling him that they had enough trouble on their hands without him alienating one of the most cooperative inmates there.

"All right, what is going on? You know. . ."

Heero held his hand up in a wait gesture. "I never thought of glue as a prohibited substance. I have no idea why. It's ridiculous."

"Heero, do you know what's in it?"

Heero recited the ingredients of Super Glue from memory, then sighed. "Yes of course. Huffing. I don't think like that. I've been suffocated before, it's not a feeling I'm fond of."

Mr. Compton just shook his head. He had a real good idea who Heero really was, but he didn't want conformation. It would lead to things happening that he wasn't prepared to deal with.

"I see. You're amazingly naive in some ways and so . . . I'm not sure of the word I want."

"Stoic? Unemotional? Stone faced? I've been told they all apply. Enough . . . you're not going to put Pete in solitary and ruin his release. That bastard Clark would just love that."

"No, I'm not. You were in possession of that glue. I'm going to have to tell intake to make sure this doesn't happen again. The kit clearly says snap together. Why glue too?"

"The damn things don't stay together worth shit. Will you look up what the punishment is?"

"I know what it is, I deal with this all the time. I'm really disappointed . . ."

Heero interrupted. "I'm really sorry about this, Sir. If I'd only thought. It's all my fault."

"No, it's not, it's the staff's fault more that it is anyone elsies. We should have been more aware as well. However, that doesn't change the facts. You were in possession of the damn stuff. I know it was really Pete's but you're right, it's not fair. It's not fair all the way around. But the rules are clear and there's not much I can do."

"Except let me take the blame. It was on my shelf, which clearly puts it in my possession. However . . ."

Mr. Compton interrupted Heero, they seemed to be doing a lot of that. "You aren't psychologically capable of withstanding a thirty-day solitary confinement. We're stuck. I don't know what to do."

Heero motioned to the computer on Mr. campion desk. "May I?"

Mr. Compton just nodded. Heero tapped keys and brought up some of the regulations of the school, he'd noticed them when he'd been studying. Mr Compton looked and blinked.

"You can't mean that one."

"Yes I do. It's perfect." Heero knew Mr. Compton wasn't going to be happy about this at all

"It's barbaric. I can't do that. I wouldn't even know how to begin." Mr. Compton shook his head, this wasn't going to be good, no mater what they did. Heero wasn't going to do well in solitary and he wasn't doing well with this idea.

"I'm sure Mr. Clark will be glad to offer his services. It's only ten strokes and I'll be clear. No solitary, no black mark, nothing. I heal quick. It'll be over before the ink drys on the order."

"We have to figure out something else."

"What? I'm up for any idea. I'm afraid I have to say that you're not putting me in solitary. If you do, I won't stay."

"You can't get out of the cell."

Heero gave Mr. Compton a stoney look. "Don't bet on it. I've walked out of tighter security than this cracker box."

"Don't say another word. I don't want to know." Mr. Compton gave up, Pete was out of the equation by mutual agreement. He knew Heero wasn't up to solitary, so that only left one alternative. The one Heero had suggested. He knew he was over a barrel and he didn't like it.

"Very well, young man. I hope you really know what you're getting yourself into."

"There are quite clear guide lines. Mr. Clark will follow them or you can bring him up on charges and dismiss him without appeal. If he goes over the line, I'll make him stop myself."

Mr. Compton eyed the guidelines and sighed. There was really nothing he could do. If Heero chose to take a flogging instead of a black mark on his record and thirty days solitary, it was his choice to make.

"I'll ask you one last time. Are you sure?" Mr. Compton waited for Heero to think, Heero watched him for a moment then just nodded.

"All right. I'll make arrangements. I'm . . ."

"Now." Heero kept his voice soft and low. The very flatness of the tone convinced Mr. Compton not to argue any more.

"I'll call . . . who . . . I don't know of anyone in the facility that could do this without . . . training? " Mr. Compton sighed again. "I don't want you harmed."

Heero couldn't help the smile. "It'll take more than a few blows across the buttocks with a cane to harm me. Call Mr. Clark. He'll love it and if we're really lucky he'll cut me. Then you can get rid of him."

"If we're lucky, before we go through with this insanity, I'll figure out a way to keep you out of solitary without a black mark."

"Not going to happen. If we go through with this I won't lose my e-mail privileges either. Right?"

"Yes. All this to keep contact with a few friends that don't visit you."

Heero grimaced. None of the other pilots had permission to leave the county they lived in. They were on unsupervised probation but still they were lying low. He wanted to see Duo, even if they had to visit through a pane of glass.

"They are still the only friends I have. They'll come someday."

Mr. Compton called Mr. Clark into the office and told him exactly what was expected of him. He sneered at Heero and Heero just looked back

At Mr. Clark's command Heero bent over the desk, reaching out to grasp the other side of it. Mr. Clark tugged Heero's pants up at the waistband and smoothed them across his ass. He endured the touch without comment and Mr. Compton waited to see what would happen next. He wasn't too pleased with the way Clark was handling Heero.

Heero waited for Mr. Clark to continue, but next he started reading the regulations to Heero and Mr. Compton. Heero knew that this was only meant to increase his fear of the punishment. He wondered if Mr. Compton would be mortally insulted if he fell asleep. He could hear him shifting restlessly, scuffling his feet and fussing with his suit jacket. Finally Mr. Clark seemed to feel that he'd increased the tension level as much as he could, so he straightened Heero's position by grabbing him by the hips and tugging him into the position he wanted.

"Hold on to the edge of the desk. Mr. Compton, you could hold his hands if you would."

"What?"

"If you hold his hands, he won't be able to put them behind him. It's a natural reaction and I don't want to hit his hands. Could do some serious damage. Heh. Wouldn't want that, would we boy?"

Heero just allowed them to do want they wanted. He was getting bored, the edge of the desk was digging into his hips and he was just generally aggravated. He didn't mind Mr. Compton holding him, if he needed to get away the man had no hope of holding him down.

The first blow echoed through the room and made Mr. Compton flinch. Heero blinked. Ow? Not even. Mr. Compton gripped Heero's hands in what he thought was a comforting gesture, Heero found it to be 'interesting' and strangely it was comforting. The next blow smacked into him making Heero snort softly. Mr. Compton whispered "Heero?" Heero muttered "I'm fine. Tell him to get on with it will you?"

Mr. Compton nodded and instructed Mr. Clark to quit 'fooling around' and get on with it. So Mr. Clark finished with a flurry of blows that Heero counted. When there had been ten lashes he just stood up and caught the last blow on the palm of his hand. He tweaked the cane from Mr. Clark's hand and snapped it casually in pieces with quick flexes of his fingers.

"I'll visit the Medic now. Mr. Compton, you need to come with me. He's cut me."

"Oh, little baby has a booboo?" Clark actually managed to hide his fear rather well. Heero saw it and gave him a tiny quirk of the lips that Duo would have called his 'gottcha' smile.

"No, inmate is cut by guard, against written guide lines set out by the senior staff to protect the population from idiots . . . like you." Heero sneered at the man and started for the office with Mr. Compton right behind him.

"Heero . . . do you need help? Do you want me to carry you?"

Heero glanced up at Mr. Compton and shook his head. "No, I don't need you to. I don't think you're up to my weight."

"I'll be glad to try. The Sheriff managed."

"He's eight inches taller than you and weighs fifty pounds more. I'm fine. Quit fussing, we're here."

Mr. Compton was startled to realize that they were actually at the infirmary. Heero opened the door and nodded to the medic there. Mr. Compton and Mr. Clark followed, but Mr. Compton shut the door firmly in his face snapping, "Outside until I want you."

Heero dropped his pants and leaned over the examination table, pulling his shirt up to expose his buttocks. The medic took one look and snarled. "What the hell is going on here? Who . . . Mr. Compton, I'll be filing a report."

"Yes, I'll need a report. We've killed to birds with one stone. I'll explain later. Just take care of him."

The medic turned to Heero and instructed him to strip and get on the table. Heero looked at him like he'd lost his mind, all he'd intended to do was have the medic or Mr. Compton take pictures.

"Why? It's easier to get a good angle if I'm standing." Both men looked at Heero who just blinked back. "For pictures."

"Oh. Uuumm . . . yes, of course, pictures." Mr. Compton turned to the medic and asked for a camera; had Heero turn around, and took several quick pictures. He checked the files to make sure he had what he needed and snarled. He'd been careful not to stare at Heero, now he realized that Heero was bleeding freely.

"Damnit boy, why didn't you holler? He hit you way too hard."

Heero actually rolled his eyes. "Do you want a man like that on staff? I'm tough, I can take it, but most of the boys here aren't exactly hard cases. They're first time offenders. Think they're tough guys. They don't need to be exposed to this kind of thing, it'll ruin them. And he'd only make the real tough ones worse."

"No, I don't want him on staff, but this is outrageous. You should have stopped him. told me. . "

"Stop fussing, done is done. The medic will fix me up in no time. It's a lot better than having to set my own leg. Calm down."

Mr. Compton felt like he was going to hyperventilate or something. This boy was standing with his pants around his ankles, dignity intact, and telling him that he'd intentionally let a man cut him so that they could get the idiot off staff.

"It also kept you out of solitary." Mr. Clark's eavesdropping was the final straw for Mr. Compton.

"That's it. You clean out your locker and be off the grounds with in the half hour. I'll send you your last check and release papers. Git!"

Mr. Clark did what Duo would have called a carp imitation and then just paled, turned, and left.

"Well . . . that went well. I'll go back to my room now. I'd like to be excused from my afternoon classes, if you don't mind."

The medic intervened before Mr. Compton self destructed. "Young man, you'll lay down on that table and let me examine you. I need to fill out a report and, while you're here, I'd like to finish your intake report. You didn't get pictures taken. I'll go ahead and take them and attach them to your file. Along with the pictures of your . . . ahem. . . wounded extremities."

Heero couldn't help grinning at the man. He was calm where Mr. Compton was obviously upset. He felt bad, he liked the man and didn't like seeing him like this, so he made a conscious effort to explain to him.

"I'm fine. Really. I've been hurt a lot worse and had to medic myself, or rely on one of my friends to fix me up." Heero toed off his boots and shucked out of his pants and underwear. He started to put his clothes on a chair but Mr. Compton took them out of his hands and took care of them himself. Heero nodded his thanks and handed him his shirt as well.

Heero stood unselfconsciously, waiting for them to tell him what they wanted him to do. He couldn't have cared less that he was naked in front of dressed men. It wasn't that unusual an occurrence to him. He grinned as the medic gulped. He'd started to take his own pictures for the medical file and focused for the first time.

"Holy shit. What the hell happened to you? I've never seen scars like that."

Heero grinned. "I got blown up. Shot, twice. Stabbed and whipped." The tech took pictures mumbling and swearing.

"Turn around."

Heero turned and heard Mr. Compton leave abruptly, slamming the door. The medic sighed and touched a small mark on Heero's back.

"Oh . . . that. Cattle prod."

"Damnit! You're so calm about it."

"If crying would do any good, I've got friends who would shed an ocean. Please . . . just take your pictures. Ok?"

"Sorry. I'm really sorry. This has got to be hard. I'll get around to tending you in just a second." the medic finished with the pictures. "There all done. Crawl up on the table and I'll fix you up."

Heero obliged the medic, grinning at him again as he fetched a spray can from a cupboard

Heero couldn't help it, he had to laugh softly

"What? You're awfully cheerful. I'd be having fits."

"Oh I just thought of a friend of mine. He'd be practically hysterical. Two real smiles in less than ten minutes; never mind ten days. He'd be checking me for fever." When the medica gave him a strange look, he just shook his head. "Inside joke. I'm known amongst my friends as Stony. My training was hard and I kinda forgot how to smile somewhere in there. Duo would be really rubbing it in."

"Ok." The medic eyed Heero's backside with some disgust. He carefully cleaned the blood off and realized that Heero wasn't really cut, the skin had burst where Clark had crossed lashes. So there weren't any long cuts, just a few small 'nicks.' "You a bleeder? There's more blood here than I'd have thought from the size of the cuts."

"I'll bleed freely for a few seconds then stop. Helps prevent infection. You gonna Doctor me or what?" Heero looked over his shoulder at the man giving him a slight twitch of the lips.

"I'm doctoring, I'm doctoring . . . This will be cold. It's antiseptic, analgesic spray."

Heero shivered slightly, the spray was extremely cold. When the medic told him to get dressed Heero just pulled his clothes on without a thought as to what it might do to his just doctored bruises. The friction of cloth on flesh wasn't pleasant, Heero hissed slightly.

"Stupid. I'll give you this can of spray and these . . . no, don't put them in your pocket. You have to take them here."

Mr. Compton came back just then reeking of mouth wash. Heero eyed the pills for a moment then handed them back.

"I'd rather not. I don't like pills. I'll keep the spray, if you don't mind. But no pills."

"You sure?"

Heero just nodded. He really didn't like pills, most of them didn't do much good and some had really bad side effects, side effects he'd rather not put up with.

"If the pain gets really bad, I'll get my room mate to spray me again. I'd really rather not have to sit through classes. If it's all right with you" Heero turned to Mr. Compton."I'll go back to my room and work from there. I could sit if it was really necessary, but I don't see that it's a matter of life or death if I miss English Lit. Will you give me a pass?"

"I've already seen to it. Oh . . . by the way . . . we're pressing charges against Mr. Clark. While he had permission to strike you, he was cautioned, by me and the regulations which he read to both of us, that drawing blood was not permitted. I'm so sorry. I knew this was a bad idea. Damnit, this is the first time one of my decisions has led to something like this."

Heero eyed Mr. Compton. He seemed determined to take the blame for this.

"I made the decision. I don't see where what happened to me is any of your fault. I went into this with my eyes open."

Mr. Compton wasn't having any of that. "I'm older than you and supposed to be wiser. I failed in my duty to you. I should have found another way. I was just lazy. I didn't want you to take a black mark, or spend time in solitary. I didn't want Pete to miss his release date. It was all because I wanted and was too lazy to work for it. You can't blame yourself. You're young you haven't had the life experience I have." When Heero opened his mouth to argue, Mr. Compton held up his hand. "I know you've had a hard life, but being a mule for Oz and suffering with them, isn't the same as being a grown up. It's all my fault. I'll have to make a report to my superiors. This is just a crying shame all the way around."

Heero blinked at Mr. Compton, they'd been telling him they knew who he was and didn't want his records so that they didn't have to treat him in certain ways. They really didn't know anything at all. He felt funny; like he was letting them down or something.

"Mr. Compton. I won't tell you things you don't need to know, but I will say this. I've been responsible for myself, and others, in situations that would have left a lot of grown men running for cover. I'm used to making life and death decisions at the drop of a hat. I'll say this. _We_ decided,_ we_ share the blame. I've always considered it my duty to protect those weaker than I am. So now the rest of the inmates are protected from Mr. Clark. He would have caused trouble that this facility isn't set up to handle. May I go to my room now?"

"Yes," Mr. Compton gave up. Heero was determined to take responsibility for himself and Mr. Compton could only admire him. He took responsibility for his actions, a thing many grown men had trouble doing. "Go to your room. Relax. I'll have your homework e-mailed to your address. Don't fall behind."

"I'm still a trustee? Thank you." Heero got out before Mr. Compton tried to hug him or something.

Pete fell on him with a yelp. Heero caught him before he fell over his own feet.

"Heero, I'm so sorry I didn't know are you all right I . . . please."

Heero just dumped Pete on his bed and flopped down on his own.

"You ok? What was that wheezing about? Talk . . . then I'll tell you all about it."

Pete told Heero all about what had happened. He'd had a stress asthma attack. The medic had given him a shot from an inhaler then sent him to his room to rest. He ended, "So now I've got this inhaler and the rest of the afternoon off. All I have to do is my homework. Now, spill or I'll . . . "

Heero rolled over and held up his in mock surrender. "I'll talk, I'll talk. Just give me a second to gather my thoughts so it makes sense."

Heero took his time and let Pete ask questions as they went along. When he finished, all Pete could do was sigh.

"Heero, you really live up to your name. You're also crazy." Heero snorted. "Do you need me to . . . er . . . spray you?"

"Not yet, the effect should last three or four hours. If you don't mind, I'd really like to shuck these pants. The pressure isn't pleasant."

"Sure. Let me help you with your boots." Pete squatted at the foot of his bed. "Damnit. I forgot."

"What?"

Pete gave Heero a helpless look. "I promised to tell Mr. Anderson the minute you got back. He's gonna be pissed."

"Tell him you were helping me. Go . . . now."

Pete took the time to pull off Heero's boots for him, then went to find Mr. Anderson. He was just coming back from Mr. Compton's office, so he wasn't mad about Pete not coming for him.

Pete knelt beside Heero's bed and took his hand. Heero opened one eye and rolled it to see Mr. Anderson standing in the doorway.

"Hn?"

"How are you feeling? I just got a report from Mr. Compton. This is outrageous. I've never, in my fifteen years in corrections, heard of anything like it. If you need or want anything, I'll see about gettin' it for you. If you want to talk, I'll send for Mr. Terry. Ok?"

Heero hummed in the affirmative and Mr. Anderson sighed. They'd finally gotten Heero to talk more, he was afraid this little affair had set him back. Mr. Anderson gave Pete a significant look and left.

Pete asked Heero if he wanted anything. Heero just shook his head and said he really wanted to take a nap. Pete grumbled but didn't complain too much. He told Heero he was going to work quietly on his homework.

Heero fell asleep and didn't realize he was taking a nap for the first time in many years.

Xxx

I'm really sorry it has taken so long for me to update. I just got caught up in To Serve. I'll try to have the second half of this chapter up within the week.

I don't think this part is very good but I hope to make it up on the next one. Please review for me.

Thank you all.


	7. Prohibited Substances Pt II

The price Prohibited Substances II

Duo shifted in his chair. He'd IM-ed Heero for over an hour last night and they'd parted reluctantly at nine p.m.. He felt much better but he still missed Heero with an unrelieved passion.

Heero had indicated that there had been some kind of trouble but hadn't told him much more than he'd been slightly hurt and the Headmaster had given him the afternoon off. Duo wished he had the afternoon off then changed his mind

They'd had some problems with work. Not anything serious after they'd gotten it through the heads of the adults they worked with that they were competent there'd been few problems. But one of the worst one's had been scheduling. Quatre had arranged for them to work in the morning and go to school in the afternoon. They'd had to change it around because most people they needed to meet with were only available in the afternoon. But that meant that they could use part of their work time to do 'ugh' homework.

That had raised a few eye brows and gotten some laughs. The bosses had homework. Wufei had taken the teasing with quiet dignity. Trowa had ignored it. Quatre didn't hear it. But Duo had taken some flack from some of the older men, until he'd shown them why he was called Shinigami. He'd taken the worst offenders out onto the training grounds at WEI headquarters in the city and just told them, "If you can keep up, you can treat me like a kid. If you can't keep up, you'll leave me alone or I'll get angry. And you don't want a pissed off Shinigami after your ass."

After leaving most of the men in his dust and the few that almost kept up panting like well run hounds, he'd gotten the respect he deserved. In fact, unbeknownst to him, many of the men were proud to say that they were run ragged by that 'little Gundam bastard.'

Wufei had gotten into the security arrangements of WEI and was equally respected and hated by the men in his department. There had been a big flap that had taken some doing to get control of. Security was bad. Passwords were shared around like family pictures, id's were ignored and the computer security was generally a joke. Wufei had sent memos that were ignored, then reset the entire system making everyone choose new user names and passwords. This had really gone over well. They'd finally fired two of the worst offenders. And that led to the current problem

One of the men who'd gotten himself fired was the father of a co-captain of the soccer team. And the entire soccer team was intent on causing all four of them as much trouble as possible. Their complaints that they only had to stay on campus for half a day were quashed by the Headmaster before they got a good start. But there were still many things that they could do to make trouble.

Like soak Duo with soda and apologize profusely. "Sorry my ass. I'm still sticky. I can't wait to go home and change clothes." Duo muttered in the general direction of Wufei.

"Maxwell, you could dodge Oz. Why can't you watch out for those idiots? Be quite." Wufei whispered back.

"Because I wasn't expecting them, now I am."

"Mr. Maxwell, do you have something important to say, or are you just disrupting the class on general principles? Why don't you share what you have to say with the rest of us?"

Duo eyed the teacher with undisguised hauteur.

"Sure I'll share. I just was saying that the next idiot who spills soda on me is trading fists next. Wanna make somethin' of it?"

The professor knew something was going on with Duo and the soccer team but he wasn't sure what. He decided the best thing in this instance was to ignore it.

"I see. Well, could you please keep it down."

"Sure. Down it is, Prof." Duo wasn't in the mood to fool around with him or any other authority figure.

"Thank you, I'm sure. Now back to the lecture. If you'll all . . . "

Duo allowed the lecture to wash over his ears leaving not a trace of information. Wufei would share his notes. Duo was planning in his head for Quatres Ball next week end.

This ball was a logistical nightmare. Every server had to be checked out. Duo hated the way the caterer had just hired a bunch of high school and college kids. They could be anyone. They might be exactly who they said they were, but he'd snuck into too many elegant homes by pretending to be from the local school and just getting hired on by the caterer for some party or other to not check everyone out.

He'd had one phone fight with the manager already and he was willing to make a personal visit to reenforce the man's comprehension of the fact that he, Duo, was really in charge of security for the ball. He wasn't putting up with getting the run around.

Wufei reached over and poked Duo.

"Huh? What!"

"Class is over. What were you thinking about?"

Duo gathered up his e-book, note book ,and pen and stuffed them into his back pack.

"That idiot caterer. I'm gonna have trouble with him. I don't think he understands that Quatre is really the head of WEI. Why does he have to have this stupid ball anyway?"

Wufei followed Duo out into the hall. It was crowded with students moving from one room to another and Duo grumbled. He hated being bumped into; none of them liked unexpected contact of any kind. This going to school seemed so simple, but the terrain was littered with land mines. Slamming locker doors still made them all flinch and a door slamming unexpectedly was liable to send them ducking.

"Because it is necessary to establish that he's the head of WEI and this is one of the steps in that most necessary of dances. It'll all be over soon." Then Wufei changed the subject with a suddenness that Duo had no trouble following. "Quatre is making arrangements for us to clep out of as many classes as possible. I'll be out of Physics by the end of the week. You need to sit down at your desk and see what you can clep out of."

"I will. As soon as this damn ball is over with. I don't have time to scratch just now. I'm going to have to speak directly to the caterer. He doesn't see any reason to turn over a list of servers to some boy. 'Some boy' is gonna rip him a new one."

Wufei thought as he negotiated his way around a group of giggling girls and another of posturing boys.

"Why not just call him on the phone and tell him that it's not necessary for him to send you that list. You've already found another caterer that is willing to . . . ahem . . . cater to your idiosyncracies."

Duo smiled one of his genuine smiles, reached into his pocket and extracted his cell phone. "Great idea. I'll do that right now . . . but what if he tells me to use the other one?"

"Then you get with Trowa and ask him for the next caterer on the list and call them." Wufei rolled his eyes. Duo was having trouble in school mostly because he hated authority and the teachers insisted on treating them no differently than they would any other seventeen-year-old. It didn't go down well with any of them. Duo just showed it more.

Wufei ducked just in time and the roll of thrown toilet paper missed him. Duo ducked too and it sailed over both their heads and hit a girl in the back. She squealed, her boyfriend glared around but the perpetrator was no where to be seen.

"I'm so gonna get those guys. I'll . . . I'm thinkin' about . . ."

"Calm down. Plan carefully. Don't get caught." Wufei had had more than enough of the soccer team himself. "If you think about it, I'm sure you'll think of an appropriate revenge. Just don't blow anything up."

"Sure Wuffers. No explosions. Got it . . . hello? Excuse me don't put . . . you fucker!"

"What now?" Wufei knew from Duo's tone of voice that things were going from bad to worse.

"That caterer put me on hold the minute he heard my voice. I'm so gonna fry him."

"Perhaps you should. . . Quatre, there you are."

Wufei turned slightly to allow Quatre to join with them. Trowa merged on the other side of Duo, who was unfortunately still on hold.

Quatre caught on quickly that Duo was in a bad mood his curses into the phone sort of clued him in.

"What's wrong? Duo's getting ready to fry his circuits."

Just then Duo hug up his phone with a snap. "Shit. He left me until the message center picked up and started on that damn 'if you don't want to wait message."

Trowa ran his hand through his bangs. He wanted to go home. His last class had been a bear. The professor of his Poly Sci. class was pro nothing. He seemed to be interested in starting as big an argument as possible. The class had degenerated into a shouting match between the president of the debate team and the local chess champion. Nothing had been accomplished as far as Trowa could see except giving him a headache as he'd been sitting between the two shouting boys.

"What's wrong?" Quatre wasn't in a good mood either. He'd just gotten out of Economics. All he wanted to do was eat lunch, then go to the office where he dealt with real economic issues. Instead of trying to satisfy a professor, who was poor as a church mouse, that he knew how to handle his allowance.

Duo decided to dump the whole decision on Quatre, after all it was his ball. "That caterer is giving me a lot of trouble. He won't give me the list of servers I asked for. And he keeps putting me on hold. If he puts me on hold one more time, I'm gonna hack his system and . . . "

"I'll just have Trowa tell him that his services aren't needed after all. He's put me on hold. I'm holding for him right now. To tell him that I don't want bar-be-que. Man's an idiot."

Trowa added his two cents worth. "He put me on hold and when I finally got through to him he told me that I don't have the authority to tell him anything about what he's to serve. Meile, I'll call him and tell him to stuff himself. Ok?"

Quatre nodded. He was hungry and not in the mood for this kind of thing.

They made it out of the building without further incident and scrambled into the car. They argued about which restaurant to go to but it was genial and solved easily enough with a round of rock paper scissors. Duo won and everyone else groaned.

"Ok you bunch of stuffed shirts. I want to go to the Coliseum. It's got great steaks and Quatre can get one of those things he likes."

"It's a wrap."

"It sure is."

Wufei poked Duo in the ribs, producing the obligatory squawk. "Duo, call that caterer again. If he puts you on hold, give the phone to Trowa."

"Ok, just a minute. We're almost to the restaurant, you want me to call now, or after I have lunch."

"No, now. Let the ass deal with a hungry Shinigami. Might make him think twice."

Duo called, got put on hold, and gave the phone to Trowa, after a few pithy remarks that scorched the phone tower. Trowa calmly left a message that they would be using a more cooperative caterer.

"Well, that's that. Come on guys, I'm hungry." Duo led the way to the hosts station. Wufei noticed that his bouncy walk was returning.

After getting seated and ordering, they went over business while they waited for their food. Quatre didn't mind talking business while they waited, but when the food came, he refused to talk about anything to do with it.

"Q-brother. Why don't you talk business at lunch? Don't business men have working lunches all the time?"

"Yes. But my father would spend my special lunches talking business. He said that it was to teach me how to conduct myself. But it still hurt, that he'd talk right over my head and practically ignore me. So I don't want to talk business over lunch unless I really have to."

"Oh. Trowa remind me to . . . what?" Duo turned to stare in the direction Wufei was aiming one of his colder looks. The soccer team was coming in the door, well not the whole team, just the co-captains and the four lead players.

"Ack. All six of them. You think I can poison them?"

"Duo no. Don't start anything. If we start a scene, we'll get banned, and this is one of my favorite restaurants. If they start something, let me handle it."

"Ok. But I'm not puttin' up with them ruining my lunch. I've got a lot to do today and I'm gonna be busy until late."

Wufei moved so that his back wasn't to the room, more or less. Trowa and Duo moved around so that they were all scrunched into about three quarters of the table. That way no one had their back completely to the room.

The waiter came over to see what the problem was and was told that they all had problems with having their back to the room. At his puzzled look, Quarte just handed him some money and gave him one of his saccharine smiles, the extra sweet one that never reached his eyes.

"If they cause the least little bit of trouble, I'm calling the manager. I don't intend to sit here and listen to them get loud and rowdy. They're a waste of space."

Trowa just made sure that he was between Quatre and the main room. Quatre noticed, but didn't say much. If Trowa took the brunt of a first attack that gave Quatre time to take better aim. Wufei just sighed. If Duo got aggravated enough, there was no telling what he might do.

The soccer players managed to remain quiet and civilized until the end of their meal. The four Gundam pilots ate and talked about the ball, but when they ordered dessert that caused a big scene. Duo wanted Cherries Jubilee. When the waiter flamed the brandy, the uproar was enough to make even Duo cringe.

After yelling and ducking the soccer players got their chairs back upright and sat back down blaming the waite staff, the restaurant and everyone else for them making fools of themselves.

"Hey, trust that long haired freak to do something like that."

"Yeah, someone needs to cut that braid off. You'd think he was something special. Girl!"

The others managed to put in their own foolish remarks. All they did was get themselves asked to pay their bill and leave.

Xxxx

Duo went to his office and soon had a call from Trowa, who told him that he should get an e-mail in a few minutes. When he got the e-mail, the attachment was a list of everyone who worked for the new caterer along with their citizen numbers. He spent the rest of the afternoon checking everyone out.

Wufei had a mess on his desk too. One of the men he'd fired had appealed, that meant that Wufei had to justify his decision. He grudgingly started on the paper work. He'd rather have done his homework. This meant that he would be up late again doing that instead of sleeping.

Trowa immersed himself in the process of planning with the new caterer while he juggled Quatre's appointments, phone calls, e-mails, faxes, and files. This wasn't as easy as juggling knives and just as dangerous. He'd had a royal ass munching from some snooty personal assistant who'd wanted to know why Mr. Winner had a teenager in his office at all. The woman had ended her rant by demanding to speak with Mr. Winners real personal assistant. When he'd coldly explained that he was the real assistant she'd said nastily that Mr. Winner was a damn pederast. Trowa had snarled, "He's four months younger than me." and hung up. He wasn't sure if that was exactly right or not, but it had sure felt good to say it.

Quatre sat at his desk and worried. He was handling WEI quite well, thank you. The business was doing better than ever, and executives who'd had nothing but trouble with a combined board of directors trying to work as a CEO ,now found that there was one person making decisions again. Things were looking much better.

But he was worried about the other three men. They were not settling in like they should. He felt, not without reason, that having to go to school was the main problem. He hated it, it was a waste of half his day. He didn't like the way the other students acted around them. They teased in a way that set their nerves on edge, taking chances that jumpy ex-terrorists wouldn't react badly to things like being slapped on the head unexpectedly. They couldn't afford an incident just now so he worried especially about Duo.

He also worried about Heero, the e-mails were informative and Heero 'submitted' them like mission reports. The IM s were also good, it was almost like talking to him on the phone, but that was the real problem if they contacted him directly it would bust him. If that happened, he'd be sent to Hellcreek or some other 'real' prison. He'd spent considerable money (which he didn't mind), and put some people in danger of losing their lively hoods (which he did mind), in order to make sure that Heero was held in a facility that was as unthreatening as possible. But he wasn't in direct contact with the facility or anyone who could tell him what was really going on with Heero. He knew that Relena was working on her end to see if she couldn't get Heero released even earlier than the guidelines recommended, but he wasn't going to count on something he didn't have direct control of.

Quatre sighed, reached out and picked up another contract, settled down and started to read. If he could review at least five this afternoon, he could relax tonight. Maybe Trowa would give him a full body massage, which would lead to other more enjoyable things. He sighed again and pulled his attention back to the contract. It just wasn't fair, he had Trowa, Wufei sort of had Duo, Heero had . . . no one.

Between them the four men managed to get enough work done in six hours that they had time to do home work in the board room before they went home. None of them could explain why they did that, they just did. It made it seem like work at 'work' if that made any sense, instead of home work which none of them liked. Why torture people with work at home? It wasn't as if there wasn't enough at school, what with study halls and one thing and another.

"I'm done." Wufei slapped his book closed and looked around the others were doing more or less the same.

Duo stacked his feet on the table and leaned back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his head he glared at the ceiling.

Trowa watched him for a few moments then nudged Quatre. Quatre turned and rested his head on Trowa's chest. This wasn't good when Duo got that look in his eyes things tended to go boom. Messily.

"Maxwell, I don't know what you're planning, but don't do it."

"Wuffers. I'm tired of that bunch of soccer jocks causing trouble. I'm thinking of doing something about it. But I'm just not really sure exactly what. I don't want to hurt them . . . yet. But I want them to learn to leave me alone. I've gotten that bunch of wild-eyed individualists you call personal security to respect me without killing anyone. I don't understand why I can't get this bunch of stupid jocks to do the same."

"Because" Wufei gave Duo a disgusted look "they are teen agers. We're so much older than they are it isn't funny. They still believe that they are indestructible, that they own the world. They won't learn because they can't. They can't comprehend anything really bad happening to them."

Duo gave Wufei a wide-eyed look. "Oh shit. I never thought of that. They are protected aren't they. Damnit. I think I really messed up."

Quatre gritted his teeth. "Ok, what did you do? I'll have to see if I can't clean up the mess."

"Sorry . . . don't think so. I changed their e-mail routers so that their parents get copies of all their e-mails."

"Well, that's not so bad. What could possibly come back to bite us from that?"

"Don't know, but all of a sudden I've got a really bad feeling about it."

Trowa meanwhile was silently wondering if he could lock Duo up for a few days to keep him away from the soccer players. The whole team would be after Duo now. Or he missed his guess.

The next day they found out what could come back to bite them.

"Fuckn' asshole. I don't know how you did it, but I know it was you. I'm grounded for two weeks, no soccer practice, nothing. That means that I'm off the team until next semester. Prick."

Duo just stood up to the bigger boy. He'd already been through two other confrontations more or less exactly like this.

"You got a problem with me, let's take it outside. I'm tired of messing around with you guys. I'm no wuss. I'll take you all on. Piss ant."

"Nah, you'll just wind up cryin' for your Momma. But you'll be sorry."

Duo watched as the boy sauntered away. "Yeah, well, I'm already sorry. Prick."

Wufei had hold of Duo's arm. He didn't intend to do more than keep Duo from following the boy but he could feel the tension in that arm. In fact, Duo was so tense his arm felt like an iron bar.

He wasn't sure which Duo worried him more; the sad, self comforting Duo, or the pissed at the world Duo. He decided he wished Duo would start rocking again; that he could handle. Shinigami scared him into a cold sweat.

"Duo, don't follow him and don't invite the next one into the parking lot."

"Why not? They all want to kick my ass. I can handle them. If they attack me first, I'm covered. I won't kill any of them. Maybe maim one or two, but that's all."

"Duo, it will get us all into trouble. No one knows who we are. If you do this, our cover is blown."

Wufei tried to make Duo see reason, but when he reached a certain point. Duo was blind to logic. And he was rapidly reaching that point. Wufei wasn't sure he blamed him much. After being one of the most feared terrorists in the solar system, being reduced to a high school student was humiliating and annoying. Frankly, none of them dealt well with either.

"Come on, let's get to class. It's History of the Colonial Expansion."

"Gah! I hate that class. They get stuff wrong and . . . " Duo walked off grumbling. Wufei had heard the same grumble every day of that class since the second they'd started it. He wondered vaguely if they could clep it. That teacher was a fool and taught like a robot. If it wasn't in the book, it wasn't important; and he couldn't rope an original thought with a tractor beam.

They actually managed to get through the class without Duo starting anything. Much. He got into an argument with the teacher about the why's and wherefores of the location of the colonies which lasted the rest of the period and ended when Duo exploded, "You can't defy the laws of physics. Try it in your car sometime. Please do. The colonies are located at the LaGrange points because they are the only points which don't require constant orbital adjustments. You can't nudge a colony with anything short of . . . well. It's just too damn expensive."

The bell rang and Duo slammed his things back into his pack and started for the door. He dodged two attempts to corner him. One by a studious looking girl in sad looking clothing and the other by another of the soccer players. (I really need to remember their names. ) He made it into the hall only to turn back when he heard Wufei trying reason with the boy.

"Look, I don't know why you don't like Duo, but you're playing with fire. If you don't watch out you'll get burned quite badly. "

The boy reached out and pushed Wufei, Wufei rolled with the push and the boy found himself kneeling on the floor with his arm in a come along. With his elbow locked, the only way to keep wufei from breaking his arm was to kneel.

"Don't do that. I don't like it. You play with fire, the dragon will burn you. Get up and spread the word. Mess with one, mess with all."

"Yeah well. . . you'll get yours. Just you wait."

Duo sighed. Now his trouble had spread to Chang Wufei. "Damnit. All I want is to get this over with. Do a good job for Q. And get Heero back . . . is that asking too much? Is there a curse on me? . . . What?"

Wufei had started pushing Duo out the door.

"We're going to be late for our next class. Come on."

"What class? I keep forgetting."

"I know. That's because it's not important enough to you. It's Twentieth Century literature. We're covering the fan fiction phenomena of that century this week."

"Ha? Manga? Why do I not remember this."

"Not manga. Pay attention in the class for once." Wufei wanted to change classes. He was interested in the Poetry of the Seventeenth Century Pre-Colony class, but it was full, so he'd signed them both up for this. Trowa and Quatre were also in it.

Wufei managed not to fall asleep in class with some difficulty. He succeeded mostly because it was so undignified to start snoring in class, especially in the front row. He wasn't best pleased with the class organization, most classes were sit down on the first day and that was your seat. This pain in the ass seated by alphabet. That meant that C was half way across the room from M. Duo seemed to need Wufei close to him and got entirely out of hand if he wasn't. Except in this class, where he put his head to one side and listened avidly to the teacher ramble on about some facet of twentieth century literature. Wufei had been wrong about the subject it was, unfortunately, romance literature this week.

The class drew to it's agonizing end and Wufei took charge of Duo before he could get into an argument with some uptight literature hound about the differences between the styles of two obscure authors that they both seemed to know more intimately than Wufei could stand.

"Come on Duo, two down and one to go. We'll sneak out early on this one. All we have to do is sit in the back of the auditorium. After Schmidt takes roll, we'll slip out and go to an early lunch, catch up with Trowa and Quatre and get to the office early. Maybe we can . . . Maxwell? What is it?"

Duo was standing in the hall staring at a retreating back. "I thought . . . just for a second. . . damnit!"

Duo wrapped his arms around himself and leaned against the nearby wall. He hung his head and sighed. "From the back he looked like Heero, . . . just for a second. Fuckfuckfuckfuck. I hate this. I wanna hold him. I don't wanna just e-mail and IM him. I'm sick of this. After all we did, all he suffered. We can't even be together. I have to put up with that bunch of pricks. And Heero isn't here. Damnit."

Wufei put his head next to Duo's, he slid his arm around Duo's shoulders and tugged on him gently. Duo turned to Wufei and grumbled. "Don't get ideas Chang. I'm taken."

Wufei mock snarled softly. "I got ideas. They include getting you and Heero back together. I've got a claim to your friendship though. Right. " Wufei shook him gently back and forth. "Right?"

"Yeah, . . . right. He asked you to look after me. But who's going to look after you?"

"You are. Ok?" Duo nodded his head. "Now move it out. We got a class that we're going to be lait for in about one minute. Come on."

They just made it to their seats before the bell. Duo groaned, Religious Philosophy: Comparative Religions 101. He hated this class almost as much as Colonial History. The teacher however, was nearsighted and hated glasses, couldn't wear contacts, and wasn't eligible for surgery. All they had to do was sit in the back and wait until she started lecturing, then nearly two thirds of the class would sneak out. Including them.

They managed to sit together and keep quiet until the lights went down and the teacher started lecturing. Duo slipped out first, followed quickly by Trowa ,who took a different door. Wufei and Quatre made it out before the rush, also taking different doors. Wufei wondered if the teacher didn't have a clue or just didn't care.

"Come on Chang, I see Trowa and Q. I'm sick of this place. If I wasn't scared of making Q mad I'd bomb it. I really would." Wufei shuddered but took heart, as long as Duo was talking about doing something, he usually wouldn't actually do it. It was a quiet Duo you had to look out for.

Wufei knew if Duo ever leaned over his shoulder and said in that calm soft voice "Ore wa Shinigami da." he'd start writing his will and hope he had time to finish it. Wufei realized that Duo was quite a way ahead of him.

"Duo wait up. We have plenty of time. Here you forgot your backpack."

Wufei caught up to Duo and gave him his backpack. It didn't weigh what he though it should.

"You forgot your books again. I swear, I don't know how you made it through two wars. You'd forget your head if it wasn't attached."

"Look in the pack Chang. Everything I need is in there. I put one of the secretaries to scanning all my books. They're in a reader now. I don't know why schools insist on paper books. They're wasteful, hard to annotate, and heavy. I hate school. I hateit hateit hateit. I've got better things to do with my time. Even if all I was doing was staring at the computer waiting for an e-mail from Heero." Duo shoved his hand into his bangs and gave them a jerk. Quatre came up and took hold of his wrist. He gently tucked it through his arm and started walking toward the car.

Trowa walked beside Wufei. "What's up?"

Wufei shook his head. "He's sill arguing with every teacher, fighting with other students, taking up with undesirables, threatening to blow up stuff. Just the usual. You know."

Trowa nodded, indeed he did know. He sympathized with Duo. He had Quatre to help him keep his sanity. Duo wanted his love close and he couldn't have him. This was getting somewhat out of hand, he wondered what they should do. He was completely out of ideas and Quatre was working on the only idea he had.

"We have quite a bit of work to take care of. Remember, this is Friday and we have to be ready for the weekend. Next week is going to be hectic. I'll be taking care of regular business as well as finalizing plans for the ball. Trowa will be busy helping me with that as well as his regular work. Duo, you'll be really busy making sure I don't have a bunch of gate crashers. Especially the trouble making kind that always shows up. Wufei will help you. We need any special arrangements get with Trowa. If you can't get any cooperation, I'll have to intervene."

Duo snorted. "My guys aren't any trouble now. If I have problems with security . . . damnit . . . I haven't got a brain in my head. . . ." Duo grumbled off and spent a few moments sulking; mumbling stupidstupidmoron.

"What is it? Duo, talk to me. ." Quatre worried until Duo just gave him a disgusted look and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Q-man if I bend over, will you kick my ass?"

"Of course not."

"Well you oughta. We've been having all kinds of trouble. Right? Right! Most of it's because we sound our age. And people can't understand that we really are doing the job we say we are. Most people think it's some kind of prank. Well, I've got a guy working for my department that sounds like . . .I'm not sure how to describe it. But he commands respect like Trowa usually does." Trowa made a face "It has something to do with the way he sounds. Or something."

Wufei shifted around to look at Duo more closely. What was he getting at?

"You know we used to use electronic shifters and stuff. Well, that made it so no one would recognize our voices. They didn't know they were talking to kids most of the time and the people we dealt with directly usualy knew who they were expecting. These people judge us by what they see. Relena kept our pictures out of the news, for the most part, and the ones that did get in were vague enough that most people wouldn't recognize us for pay. I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this, but . . . I'm going to use Mr Lyons. I'll have him make most of my calls and if I have to talk directly to anyone I'm gonna shift my voice. Make sure I sound older."

Wufei sighed. They'd all thought things would be easier when the war was over. Then, when the trials had started, things would be easier when the trials were over. Now he was wondering if anything would ever be easier. He wasn't hoping for utopia, not even normal. Just functional, that would be nice. So here they were, back on the offensive again. Only this time, thank heaven or whatever, they weren't on the verge of getting their asses shot off.

Quatre considered. "You're right. I'm sending out a memo. Everyone expects me to be young. They know how old I am. But I think they expect me to hire older people to 'aid' me in my work. I hired you because you're the best there is. And because you're my friends. I'll make sure everyone in the company knows that your jobs aren't just some sort of nepotism or something. Now, can we please change the subject."

So they did and spent the rest of the drive to work discussing a new band they all liked. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Wufei spent it checking into some missing inventory and Quatre and Trowa spent it doing contract revisions and arrangements for the ball.

Xxx

"Mr. Lyons, would you step into my office for a minute." Duo froze at the soft cat calls and hoots of ooooh "People?" Duo's voice was soft and cold. "I have work to do. If you don't have any, I'll be glad to find something for you to do." Duo looked over the visible staff but everyone had their heads down looking busy. "Didn't think so."

Mr. Lyons just followed Duo into the office and sat in the nearest chair. "They don't mean anything by that."

Duo rubbed his face and then sighed. "I know. But I put up with enough of that shit at school. I don't need it here. I'm going to have you do most of my phone contacts from now on. If I really need to talk to someone personally. I'll have you make first contact. I'm tired of the shit I get."

"Ok boss. Must be really hard. Going from doing a needed job to doing scut work for WEI. I mean, Mr Winner. . . you know I've never even seen that man? Anyway . . . what? Something Mr. Maxwell."

Duo was looking at Mr. Lyons with an arrested expression that made him wonder for a moment what he'd done.

"Oh, . . . umm . . . Sir. Most of us have figured out who you are. I won't say anything and neither will any of the rest of the staff. But how many other seventeen year olds have any of your training, not to mention that braid. Look, if you want it kept secret that you're here, you got it. You saved my life. Even if you don't remember, I do. So you want it, you got it."

"Ok, I'm sorry, I don't remember you. But I've checked your clearance and it's high. You could be a Preventer. I don't care why you don't want to do it, that's not my business, but I feel I can trust you." Duo reached over and taped a key on his computer. It brought up a screen saver that was a picture of all the pilots.

Mr. Lyons looked at it for a second and then nodded. " All the Gundam pilots. Good picture. So?"

"You are now my second. That guy that used to be second quit yester day. "Duo pointed to each pilot in turn and named them all. Ending "Quatre Raberba Winner. The Winner."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah. Now . . . I need these calls made. And if anyone wants to talk directly to me, you just tell them the truth. And make sure that they know I don't need shit. Ok?" at Mr. Lyons nod Duo turned back to the computer with a sigh.

"Got homework, huh."

"Yeah. And then I got to go over the security arrangements for that damn ball. Get gone. Hey Lyons. Thanks."

The weekend went well. They all spent most of it sleeping in, watching old movies, and doing homework. But Monday dawned all too soon.

"Duo! Wake up!"

"No."

"Up!"

"Fuck you." Duo slapped the pillow firmly over his face and tried to go back to sleep.

Wufei pulled it out of his hands and got him out of bed by the simple expedite of tipping the mattress, Duo and all, off the bed and dumping it on top of him.

"Damnit Chang. I hate you."

"Sure you do. Come on."

Wufei held the cup of coffee where Duo could smell it. He crawled out from under the mattress and took the cup.

"Ok I don't hate you. But I'm not that fond of you right now, either".

Wufei snarled. It was going to be another of those days, he was sure of it. He had a prickly feeling down his back.

Breakfast was accompanied by Duo's grumbling. He'd spent part of Sunday going over how many classes he could test out of and he'd found that he could test out of everything except the classes he was in right now. So he'd spent the rest of Sunday doing every test he could manage and hadn't gotten to bed until very late, or very early, depending on how you looked at it.

"Duo, I know you're tired, but it's your own fault. If you'd gone to bed . . ."

"If I'd gone to bed I wouldn't have enough credits to graduate right now. The only reason I didn't test out of the classes I'm in now is you aren't allowed to test out of a class you've started. Gimme somea that toast, will ya?"

"Duo." Quatres soft reprimand made Duo grimace.

"Sorry Quat. I know I'm slippin', but I'm tired. More coffee, please."

After too much coffee and not enough breakfast, Duo went in search of his back pack. Which had gone missing again.

Quartre went right to the heart of the problem the minute he was out of the room.

"He's slipping. I don't like the fact that his speech is degenerating. He was so proud of his better grammar. This going to school to be socialized is a major disaster. Trowa?"

"I checked the release document again. The language is very clear. We have to graduate from high school. It doesn't say we have to stay in school for any specific length of time, only until we graduate."

Quatre sipped his tea for a moment. Then made a decision.

"Wufei, will you make a schedule of tests we all need to take to graduate in mid year." Wufei gave a short nod of acquiescence "That will make it easier to make sure that no one can whipsaw us. I want to graduate as soon as possible. I'm too busy to put up with this shit any longer. The logistics are getting more and more complicated by the day. Trowa, when Wufei gives you the schedule, please see to it that my calender is clear for at least two hours a day so that I can take the tests in as timely a manner as possible. Any suggestions?"

Trowa bit his lip for a second. "Yes, we need to see that Duo takes it easy. He's worn out with this whole mess. Damnit, I wish Heero was here."

Duo's voice snapped from the door way. "Shit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one fills up first. Come on, we'll be late. "

No one made any remarks about Duo sneaking up on them, he naturally walked lightly and stealth was his speciality. Instead they all finished their breakfasts and headed for school.

While they were on the way, another sore spot came up. Duo saw a car. Not just any car. Quatre couldn't remember exactly what its name was but it was sleek and hot and very expensive. And Duo wanted one in the worst way

"I don't see why we have to wait until we're eighteen to get a licence. I was operating a Gundam by the time I was thirteen. Fuck. I want that car."

"I'll give you one for your birthday if you'll just shut up about the licence. You know they raised the age again just last year."

Duo continued to grumble until they got to school. He was in a really bad mood and the next two class periods weren't to improve it any at all.

First period was horrible. Duo fell asleep and when Wufei nudged him to wake him up he flinched so badly that he fell out of his chair. Of course, everyone laughed at him, which made him angry.

Second period was even worse. Duo tripped over something and bumped into Wufei who slipped and bumped into Trowa. Quatre managed to keep out of the train wreck by some fancy foot work. But, again, everyone in the room laughed. Duo turned on the nearest warm body, but the kid held out his hands in an 'I didn't do it' gesture so Duo let it drop, but he ignored the teacher in favor of glaring at the back of the head of one of the soccer team.

Just as the class ended, a Security Officer came into the room and called Duo into the hall. Duo looked at him for a second, then just stood up muttering to Wufei, "Relax. He's not Oz. What's he going to do to me?"

Duo followed the security officer into the hall and stopped just far enough away from him that he was out of arms reach.

"Yeah. What can I do ya for?"

"You can come with me to the Headmasters Office. Bring your pack with you."

Duo got an odd, unhappy feeling about that but complied.

When they reached the office Duo was motioned to enter first but he balked at the thought of having someone he didn't trust at his back. So he motioned for the security officer to go first.

"Not a chance. You first and give me that pack."

Duo handed his pack over without protest and gave the Headmaster an enquiring look.

"Ok, what's the problem. I know I've been having trouble with some of the soccer team, but it's not my fault. They started it."

"I don't know or care about the soccer team. If you're having trouble with them, it's probably your fault. They are division champions and the Alumni love them. This is about what you have in your possession."

Duo's eyes narrowed, this was not good. He didn't have anything in his possession that he shouldn't.

The security officer made a soft noise and Duo turned to see him take a baggie out of his pack. Out of a small outside pocket to be exact. Duo turned cold. He felt stupid, someone had suckered him and planted the pills.

"Those aren't mine. I don't do drugs of any kind."

The Headmaster turned to the security officer and just frowned. "You can leave us now." Then he turned to Duo. "I don't care if they're really yours or not. I just checked on your records. You've been here less that one semester and you've already clepped out of enough classes to graduate early. I don't like your sort. I'm not sure what you're up to but you're obviously up to something. You're not going to get away with it. I've got my eye on you now."

Duo just eyed the man with a jaundiced look. "I hadn't done anything wrong. I don't know what your problem is. What did I do to you?"

Duo knew he was fucked, this guy wanted him to back off the soccer players so – what? Did he know the drugs were planted or was he just taking advantage of the situation?

"You understand that this is a very serious situation? We have very strict rules here. Possession of any prohibited substance is a flogging offence. Now . . . "

"What? What the hell?" Duo eyed the Headmaster who gave him a self-satisfied sneer.

"If you don't feel capable of submitting yourself to appropriate discipline, perhaps you should reconsider your decision to attend this facility. If you can produce proof that you are physically unable to withstand the punishment we'll figure out something else. However, if you simply refuse. We will have no choice but to expel you. I'll leave you to contemplate your choices. Choose carefully, Mr. Maxwell"

Duo eyed the man for a second then shook his head "I don't need to think. I don't know exactly what your problem is, but I'll tell you this." Duo leaned close to the man "You may flog me, but you'll never beat me. Bring it on."

Headmaster got up and slid around Duo like he was radioactive. He opened the door and left.

Duo jammed his hand through his bangs and kicked the desk. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called Wufei, who answered the phone in a hiss. "Maxwell, this better be important."'

"It is. They found drugs in my pack, look around an see who's looking real satisfied with themselves. I'm so gonna jam them up."

Wufei stifled a gasp "Duo! You know what the rules say."

"I didn't. I do now. Wu, can you come? I'm gonna need you."

"I'll call the others . . . Where are you?" Wufei eyed the teacher, who was getting ready to say something to him. Duo answered him and he nodded sharply. "Ok. I have to go now."

Wufei dealt with the teacher by simply telling him the truth and walking out, dialing as he went.

Duo waited, looking out a window, until the security officer came into the office. Then he turned and snarled. "What now?"

The officer took a step back, this wasn't the scarred young kid he had been expecting. He looked half again his age and hard.

"Ok . . . we can do this the hard way or the easy way."

Duo gave the man a cocky look and spit. "No easy way to take a beating. Just tell me what you want me to do. Get this over. But I'm telling you now. You cut me and I'll skin you with a rusty file."

"Don't threaten me, you little shit. I'll have you know that I was a Leo pilot in the war."

Duo looked at him for a second, then decided. "I was a pilot too."

"You're too young to have been a pilot. You . . ." the security officer gulped and stared at Shinigami come out to play.

Duo waited until the man started to sweat. "Tell me exactly what you're going to do. I'm going through with this so I don't get expelled. Then I'm testing out. You understand me? I don't need charity. But I won't put up with abuse of power. Get on with it."

So the man told Duo to drop his pants.

While Duo was doing that, he took a cane from an umbrella stand behind the Headmaster's desk. When he turned around, he found himself in the unfortunate situation of trying to decide exactly how to get off the hot seat. Duo was bent over the desk waiting for him to finish his job. And, the more he thought about it, he wasn't wanting to go any where near that particular hot potato.

The headmaster came in to see if the man had accomplished his mission and started in on him. "Mr. Duncan, I piloted a Leo in the war. I took my life in my hands and wound up here afterwards. I'm not taking my life in my hands to satisfy some peaty feud you have. I quit. You want him flogged, you do it yourself."

Tossing the cane on the floor he walked out and never looked back. But that left Duo with a problem. While he hadn't looked up from his position bent over the desk he knew exactly what was going on and couldn't help laughing. Which made Mr. Duncan angrier than ever.

"You young punk! I don't know what you did to him, but I've had enough of your insolence. I'll teach you to be more respectful of your betters."

Bending down he snatched up the cane and brought it down across Duo's ass with a sharp whack

Duo didn't even flinch. The next blow was harder and Duo clenched his nether cheeks, snarling into the top of the desk. The third blow as even harder and the smack could be heard in the outer office. Wufei had to force himself not to intervene. The sounds continued until ten lashes had been administered. It was quiet for a few moments then Duo exited the inner sanctum and walked directly into Wufei's arms.

"Duo? You ok?"

"Yeah, I'll live. I got lots worse from Oz, but it's humiliating." He sighed wearily "Take me home, Wu. Suddenly I feel old."

The cat calls and snickers that followed them down the hall solidified their resolution to be out of this place as soon as possible.

Xxx

This chapter was harder than I thought it would be and I'm not really satisfied with it, but here it is. There will be a couple of weeks between this chapter and the next. I've got RL to catch up with. Garden and all that. Hang in there with me though, there'll be some action soon. Explosions, shooting, stuff you'll like.

Thank you to all my reviewers. I'm on my other computer and too lazy to go on line to check for names. Don't shoot me.


	8. Heavy Machinery

The price: Heavy Machinery

Heero stood in the cattle yard and grumbled softly to himself. He missed Pete already

Pete had been released to his parents custody yesterday. It had been five days early, but his father had asked for special consideration as he had to return to L3 to resume his duties there. Pete's mother had been one of those fluttery types that Heero had little experience with. She annoyed him from the minute he met her until Mr. Griffin told her mildly to 'Be quiet, Love'

Mr. Griffin had quietly pulled Heero aside and told him if he needed a recommendation for his parol it was available on request. Heero had told him that he was requesting it and thanked him in advance.

Mrs. Griffin had finally realized that Heero was the boy who'd put Pete on the helicopter. She immediately started to hug him and cry over him which had made him very uncomfortable. But Pete had held his hand and managed to get his mother pried off and into his father's custody. Then it had been time for Pete to leave.

Heero had gathered up all his things and put them in a box, he carried the box to the car for Pete and handed it to the driver. He didn't notice the driver, he was focused on Pete. The driver however noticed Heero and nearly had an aneurysm. He recognized him right away, but since Duo had saved his entire unit he kept his mouth shut.

Heero gave Pete a hug. Doctor Terry would be proud of him. Duo too, he was finally getting over his, as Duo called it, 'touch me not' attitude.

As Pete started to get into the car Heero suddenly remembered he had Pete's MP3 player. (Though why they were called MP3 he couldn't say, the files were MP8 format)

"Pete, here, don't forget this. You'll be wanting it."

Pete looked at his father, who nodded. "Keep it. I loaded a bunch of good stuff in it for you. I got a mail from Duo, we sneaked around a little. It has all his favorites in it and a bunch of stuff Quatre recommended. And some of my favorites . . . Don't forget me . . . ok?"

Heero gave Pete a little smirky grin. "I have a perfect memory. I won't forget you. You have my mail address. Keep in touch. If you send a permission, I can mail you."

Mr. Griffin called Pete to the car, telling him to give his friend one last hug and get a move on.

The last sight Heero had of Pete was his face in the rear window of the car looking back at him.

xxxx

Now he was standing up to his ankles in shit and (oh, excuse me, manure) mud, waiting for some guy to come and bulldoze off the top layer of the cattle yard so he could turn the cows back in.

As a trustee he had duties to take care of, not that he minded. It was better than sitting in a class room, bored out of his skull, while some idiot droned on about things that he would be better off to stay away from. With Pete's help and encouragement they'd both managed to test out of enough classes that they had their high school diplomas. So Heero had plenty of time to do extra duties. He didn't mind.

Headmaster Compton had made sure that there was no trouble after his 'spanking.' Heero didn't have the heart to hold anything against him. He'd tried so hard to find a way around his responsibilities. But Heero didn't regret his actions, it had gotten a man who was guaranteed to cause trouble out of the facility and out of the system. Weighing the good against the bad there was no down side.

Mr. Compton seemed to think that he'd abused Heero horribly. Heero had been sent to talk to Mr. Terry who hated being called Doctor. Heero had simply talked about how he felt and Mr. Terry had sent a report to Mr. Compton that Heero wasn't traumatized and to let it drop.

So he stood and watched the cows and waited for some late idiot to show up to do his job.

When the yard was clean and the cows back in and fed, Heero had free time. Today he wanted to go to the gym. There was a demonstration of some martial art. It was supposed to be done by a man who was one of the best in the system. Heero grumbled 'if I miss that demonstration because of this idiot, I'm going to be royally pissed.'

"Hey Heero. Mac hasn't shown up yet?"

Heero turned to see Mr. Anderson coming to check on him. He liked Mr. Anderson, he was a good man and tried to see that all the boys under his care did what they were supposed to do, stayed out of trouble, and had what they needed. The ratio here made it possible for each floor monitor to supervise only eight boys. Mr. Anderson was in charge of only six, now that Pete was gone, so he tended to check on his charges quite frequently.

"Mr. Anderson, Sir. No, Mr. Mac hasn't shown yet. If he doesn't get here soon, I'm going to miss the demonstration in the gym. Was there a set time he was supposed to be here or was it open ended?"

"He was supposed to be here at ten." Mr. Anderson looked at his watch. 'It's ten thirty now. If he isn't here in another fifteen minutes I'll see what I can do about getting you off for the demo. Ok?"

Heero nodded, "Yes, Sir. That will be fine. I'll wait here until then. But the cows are even more restless than I am. They're wanting to be feed. I wish he would hurry up."

Mr. Anderson went to see if he couldn't find out what had happened to Mac.

While he was gone Mac showed up, driving the bulldozer. He started to doze off the lot and Heero started worrying. The man didn't know how to drive the machine. He was all over the place. He hit the shed, he knocked down a gate, then he hit the shed again.

Heero growled, this guy was a menace. Mr. Anderson returned just then, much to Heero's relief.

"What's going on? They told me that Mac was here, but that isn't Mac. I don't now this guy from Adam."

"You sure that isn't Mac? It's hard to tell what he looks like from this distance."

"Yeah, I'm sure that isn't Mac. He's too big and the wrong color."

Heero just nodded. "Ok, Sir What do we do?"

"We don't do anything. I'll call the Chief of Operations and have him come down here. It's his job to take care of situations like this."

Heero sighed; there went his demonstration. It was going to take him all day to get this mess cleaned up.

By the time the Chief of Operations got there, the man had knocked down a section of fence and hit the shed for a third time.

That lean-to shed wasn't going to take too many more hits. Heero didn't want to think of the work it would take to rebuild it. But without it, there was no place for the cows to get out of the sun and no feed boxes to put the feed in.

"Damnit. I told Mac not to send that useless maggot here again. He's a drunk, and alcohol and heavy machinery don't mix. If he knocks down that shed, Mac can just send his crew to rebuild it." The man turned to Heero and pointed to the concrete block machine shed. "Go in there. I don't want him running over you. I'm going to send for a crew to stop that moron. It's the only way we'll get him off that dozer. Go on. You're not in any trouble."

Heero just nodded, he wasn't interested in messing around with some idiot on a bulldozer. Let the guards take care of this, that was what they got payed for.

Heero and Mr. Anderson went into the shed and watched as several men came from different directions and attempted to herd the man out into the open field; away from the cows, the sheds and the commons.

He didn't herd, in fact he started playing chicken with some of the bigger men. When they came into his line of sight, he chased them.

Heero bit his lip and worried. This wasn't going the way it should.

"Mr. Anderson, Sir, if that fool heads for the commons, we've got a real problem. There must be twenty or thirty men . . . boys there at this time of day. Classes are changing for the next fifteen minutes and you know they won't understand what is happening until it's too late for some of them."

Mr. Anderson inclined his head in understanding. "I recognize him now We've had trouble with him before. He's related to Mac somehow or other and he persists in sending him. The last time he ran over forty feet of fence and a water trough. We like to never got him stopped. This time he's worse."

"How did you get him stopped?"

"One of the men just stood in front of the dozer and, when he saw him, the jerk stopped; just before he ran over him. This time it doesn't look like that's going to work."

"What are you going. . . oh, shit! What . . . ?" Heero felt the impact through his hand.

"Damn, that idiot hit the back of the shed. He's really out of control this time. I don't know what gets into him. He'll go along just fine for months, then he'll go on a bender."

Mr. Anderson was getting really worried. They weren't getting anywhere in their attempts to stop the runaway and he was endangering everyone around him with his antics.

Heero pushed Mr. Anderson into the back of the shed and took cover behind a bailing machine. "We'll stay here until they stop him. It's safe. That machine is sturdy enough that, even if he manages to break in, it'll stop the dozer before it gets to us."

"Good idea. But you stay here. I'll check to see what's going on. We may have to make a run for it if he starts in on this shed. I don't want to take the chance of it collapsing on us."

Heero examined the interior of the shed with a practiced eye. "One good hit on the center post and we're in a world of hurt. It'll go down like a house of cards."

"You sound like you know what you're talking about."

"I do." Heero kept it to that and waited for Mr. Anderson to check on the guards progress in getting the bulldozer stopped.

But they suddenly didn't need to check on progress. There was a shrill scream that Heero identified immediately as mortal. Someone had just died in a very messy way.

Mr. Anderson grabbed Heero just at the door and pulled him into a firm embrace. He turned a furiously unresisting Heero to his chest and covered his eyes with one hand.

"Don't look. It's not good."

Heero gently put Mr. Anderson aside and snarled. 'No more messing around. One down and he's headed straight for the commons. He's not going to stop."

Mr. Anderson grabbed Heero again and this time he held on hard. Heero didn't struggle, there was, hopefully, enough time to reason with the man.

"You can't go out there! A man just died. You'll get yourself killed."

"No, I won't. I know exactly what I'm doing. Don't interfere. Someone else will get hurt."

Heero remembered a movement that Duo had used and eeled out of Mr Anderson's grip.

"Heero, . . . Heero, come back here." Mr. Anderson snatched at thin air and followed Heero out of the shed.

When he got outside, he saw that Heero was baiting the dozer like it was a bull. He led the man away from the buildings and commons into the open field. The cows wisely headed for the far side but that attracted the maniac's attention and he decided that he was going after them. In his drunken rage he just wanted to kill every moving thing he saw.

Heero dodged the bulldozer, zigzagging back and forth across the field. He kept it up until other men got in place to try to distract the man. Heero caught a man's eye and made a 'round them up' motion that he hoped would be understood. The other men did and started baiting the monster machine into circling, they'd run until he followed, then dart out of the way. They continued the baiting process until he was running in a fairly tight circle.

He seemed to be getting more confused. Heero couldn't figure out why until he saw the plastic tube the man held in his mouth, he was drinking from some kind of container concealed in his clothing by sucking the whiskey through the tube like an elongated straw.

Suddenly they lost all options as their drunken opponent realized something was up. He raised his head and looked around. Realizing that he'd been baited from his objective, he targeted the commons and headed for it at top speed. Heero snarled in frustration. He'd been hoping to run the machine out of fuel, but evidently the tank was full, or nearly so, and they were out of options.

Men screamed and shouted as Heero took a running jump and landed on the track. Using it like a conveyer belt, he allowed it to bring him to the driver's seat. He grabbed the man and literally threw him off the machine. He didn't bother to watch where he fell. If he got run over, that was his problem. Heero was more interested in stopping the dozer before it got into the commons and ran over half a dozen idiots who were just standing slack jawed and staring.

Heero got the dozer stopped and just sat for a moment enjoying the feeling of satisfaction he got from a mission accomplished.

Mr. Anderson climbed onto the dozer, snatched Heero out of the seat and shook him like a doll. Heero had to hold back to keep from hurting him but he managed; then he realized what the man was shouting.

"Heero . . . if you ever do anything that stupid again, I'm putting you on suicide watch. I'll spank your butt rosy, you . . . you could have been killed. You young fool . . . you . . . damnit."

Heero managed not to laugh at the man, he even disengaged himself from Mr. Anderson's clutching hands without breaking a finger.

"Sir . . . I'm fine . . . you're going to hurt me more than that did. Please. Don't shake me. I think you're giving me a headache. Mr. Anderson . . . stop."

Mr. Anderson finally got himself under control and stopped shaking Heero and started shaking himself. Other men who'd been involved scrambled onto the machine and hauled Mr. Anderson off Heero. Heero settled himself onto the seat of the bulldozer and started it back up. He was going to have some to do to clean up the cattle lot and the mess the runaway had made.

"I'll take the dozer, finish the job and start fixing this mess. Will someone get me some help? I could do it on my own, but there are enough slackers around here that I shouldn't have to. If we shake a leg, I can still make the demo. . . . Well, don't just stand there gaping at me like a bunch of carp, get going!"

Heero turned back to his job, leaving a dozen adults either staring at him in astonishment or headed to follow his orders.

Several men showed up just as Heero was done scraping down the lot. They started mending the fence, so Heero got off the dozer and called in the cows. The cows came willingly enough and Heero set out the feed, then closed the mended gate and sighed. That job was done. He turned around to go to the dining room, lunch was going to be late today. But as he turned he saw Doctor Terry standing waiting for him. He groaned silently, he was hungry and not in the mood to put off his reward.

"Can I help you doctor? If you want to talk to me, could we do it in the dining room? I'll miss lunch otherwise."

"I would like to talk to you. You seem very calm for someone who just risked his life. You realize that grown men would still be shaking."

Heero eyed the Doctor for a second then sighed.

"You don't want to talk about it? I think . . ."

"Doctor I don't want to be short with you, but I'm hungry. If I don't hurry, they'll have shut down the dining room before I can get anything to eat. And there's a demo at the gym I'd like to see. Somehow I feel that talking to you right now would be a punishment. I'd miss lunch and something I've been looking forward to. If you really feel that it would be beneficial for me to speak to you . . . could we do it tomorrow?"

"Yes. That would be good. I understand that you . . . well, I don't understand why you aren't under the bed so to speak. You . . . " the Doctor saw Heero's impatient glare at his watch. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Go on or you _will_ miss lunch."

Heero made good on his escape and jogged to the dining room stopping in the main barn just long enough to change his pants and boots. I wouldn't do to bring the smell of 'barn yard' into the diningroom.

He ate quickly, thankful that the kitchen staff seemed to be up on all the gossip. The kitchen was supposed to be closed five full minutes before he got there, but one of the kitchen staff called him into the back kitchen and handed him a plate that they had made up for him. It was even still warm as they had put it in a warming oven. When he was done, he thanked the woman who'd handed him the plate.

"Thank you. Um,. . .ma'am, do you know if the man . . . "

"We heard all about it. That fool is under arrest. He ran right over Charly's legs, he may have to have a prosthesis. Just terrible. I heard that you stopped him before he could hurt anyone else. You're so brave. We all want to thank you. And then to go right on like nothing happened and finish up your job. Such dedication."

Heero got a funny feeling in his chest, like something was way too tight. He gulped, then gulped again. He knew that his face was getting red.

"Well! . . . you act like no one ever thanked or praised you before."

"No one ever has. Except Duo. I'm not used to it. Thank you."

"Such a shame . . . Here. There's some cake here."

The woman cut him a piece of cake and set it in front of him with a flourish. Heero gathered himself together and ate the cake with relish. Duo would have grumbled that the piece was too small, Heero was just glad to get any.

xxxx

When he got to the gym, he was just late enough that he had to slip into the back of the room. He was just in time to get the very beginning of the lecture.

The lecturer was one of the few people who'd been off L5 when it went. He spoke about the skills of the Chinese styles of martial arts and some of the more modern (if you could call four hundred years old modern) combined styles which combined Japanese swords with Chinese styles. Such as using two ninja swords in a Chinese style and a wakazashi in combined katas. It made Heero think so much of Wufei that he didn't realize that the man had actually used his name.

"This young man is one of the six remaining Masters of the Chang Style of swordsmanship. I would like to introduce to you . . . Chang Wufei."

Heero nearly choked on his own spit. Wufei here? Was Duo here too?

Wufei came out and ran through one kata, then part of another. Heero recognized the spot Wufei stopped at. He always stopped there as the rest of the kata called for an opponent. He saluted the lecturer and then stood waiting calmly, his eyes flicking over the group. When he located Heero, he nodded slightly. Heero raised an eyebrow and Wufei signaled 'wait.'

The lecturer started speaking again. "You might think it is strange for us to be lecturing on such a violent subject in a school like this, but most martial arts are not about fighting but about physical and mental discipline. Discipline that most of you desperately need. Mr. Chang has been practicing the arts for many years. Most of his life, in fact. His discipline is impressive." Wufei managed to look suitably reserved. "That concludes my lecture. If you would like to remain after, Mr. Chang will be glad to answer questions one-on-one. Please remember, Mr. Chang is an expert in several martial arts and we are lucky to have him here, so do be respectful. Thank you."

Most of the people in the gym left. The lecture had been long and the demonstration short. The few that were interested in more than the lecture didn't take long to ask their questions and leave. Heero patiently waited until they had all left, then he approached Wufei and pounced.

"Duo. Is he here? Where is he? What's going on? Why don't they know who I am . . . ."

Heero eyed Wufei over the hand he'd place firmly over his mouth. Wufei said loudly "I'll be glad to answer all your questions. Come, walk with me."

Heero followed Wufei into the commons resisting the urge to shake him until he answered the questions.

Wufei paced slowly, the picture of a contained, disciplined martial artist. Heero prowled along beside him like a caged tiger. They made a strange picture for anyone who cared to look.

"Duo wasn't allowed to come. We're only allowed to leave Quatre's estate to go to school and his office. He managed to loosen our chains enough to get permissions for us to be gone one at a time by complaining that he can't do business if he can't travel. So we can get travel permits upon request. It's mostly a formality, I believe, but we're not pushing things just yet.

"Duo is good. When we found out that you are eligible for parol in. . . . nine more months now . . . well, I can't tell you what a relief it was to us all. Duo cried, and so did Quatre. It was all Trowa could do to comfort him without an unseemly outburst of his own. Of course I maintained complete control of myself." Wufei smirked at Heero "long enough to get Maxwell under control."

Heero just nodded. He'd been counting the days and just before Pete left they had realized that the time served was credited directly to the time to first parol hearing.

"Duo is at home. Impatiently waiting for me to call him and tell him that no one is abusing you to death or . . . heaven only knows what."

Wufei nodded and then dropped his head as if contemplating some deep question.

"Between Relena and Quatre, they have managed to hide you in plain sight. No one is quite sure where you are. There are some four hundred Heero Yuy-Somethings in the system, from the age of twelve to the age of fifty."

"Heero . . . Somethings?" Heero wasn't sure what Wufei meant.

"Heero Yuy-Maxwell, if you can believe it. Yuy-Adams, Yuy-Hansen, Yuy-Wilson. Hyphenated all over the place, plus several hundred Yuy's. Quatre spent quite a bit of money in bribes and Relena has muddied the waters considerably by refusing to release our ages. Or any other information about us. I'm not sure that's good but I wasn't consulted."

"I see. Well . . . Wufei, do you think it's necessary to maintain security protocols now."

Wufei considered for a few steps. "Not really. I don't think we'll be mailing anything sensitive. It's just war nerves, as my therapist calls it. If we need to send anything sensitive, we can exchange open mail with a hidden code word. Duo came up with one. I'll give you a complete list later."

"Ok, that is acceptable. How are the others? I . . ." Heero sighed, it was getting easier to communicate his emotions but strong ones still threw him.

"Everyone is fine and we all miss you a great deal. It is unjust that you should be punished for following orders. Unfortunately the professors are all . . . dead . . . humm."

"What?" Heero liked it when Wufei got that look in his eye. It meant he had an idea and Wufei's ideas were always to Heero's liking.

"Don't want to say just yet. False hope is worse than no hope." Wufei looked at Heero. "You don't tell Duo enough. He worries. He caught a flogging and he. . . ."

Heero grabbed Wufei's arm and at his grunt of pain let go again. "Who I'll . . . some . . . what happened."

Wufei told Heero the whole story and ended by telling Heero that there was a major dose of sorry waiting for the right time. Heero told Wufei about his own experience with the cane and ended his story by saying. "He still looks so guilty every time I see him that it makes me feel funny. If he knew what had happened to me he'd probably have fits."

"You talk to your therapist?"

"I can't really." Heero shook his head regretfully. "He'll figure out who I am and I'll wind up in Hellcreek. No thank you."

"I see. But are you getting any help."

Heero nodded smiling faintly. "I think my therapist has an idea of who I am . . . maybe . . . But he doesn't want to know. He's a real help. I can tell him things. I'm feeling . . . different. I'm not . . . worried all the time."

Wufei started to say more but they were interrupted by his lecturer coming to find him.

"Mr Chang, we need to leave soon so that we may be back in the time of your curfew. Please." The man bowed and turned away.

Wufei nodded. "Yes, of course. I'm coming directly. Thank you."

Heero solemnly shook hands with Wufei suppressing an urge to hug him. "Tell Duo I love him." Wufei blinked."Give everyone else my best. And, Wufei? . . . I owe you more than I can ever repay. I'll mail you soon."

Wufei grimaced, he'd been so involved in talking to Heero, gauging his condition, that he'd forgotten to give him the list of words.

Heero nodded. "It's nice to be in touch with 'old friends' you should try 'chow leu' tea." Wufei raised an eyebrow. Both words were from the war days. The code words he was supposed to pass could be passed later, those two codes would do for now.

They parted and Wufei watched as Heero headed for his dorm room. He moved easily and didn't seem to be in any distress. Wufei was considerably relieved by everything he'd seen. Just before he turned to leave, he saw a large man approach Heero, speak for a moment, then turn to walk beside him, draping an arm over his shoulder in a companionable manner.

"Let us go. I am comforted."

xxxx

Conference notes: Re: Yuy-Winner, Heero

This subject seems hesitant to the point of shyness, but upon further examination it is found that he simply is not talkative. When spoken to he responds with confidence although his politeness can verge on diffidence at times. He calls all staff by their rank and/or sir.

His performance in the forrest fire was exemplary. He sacrificed himself so that a much younger and less capable individual was secured. Then managed to secure his own safety without help from outside sources.

"Well gentlemen any further notes, additions, emendations or comments."

Mr. Compton looked around the table. The staffing on Heero was going quite well and he was hoping for recommendation toward early parole applications. The relevant staff were all in attendance which included Mr Terry, Mr Anderson, the head cook, Mrs Parker and the dairy man, Mr Cooper. They all shook their heads and went on to other boys. When the meeting finally broke up Mr. Compton asked Mr. Terry to stay for a few moments.

"Well, you've been talking to him for weeks now. What do you think? This last little incident has me on edge. He took the whole incident in stride. Not good if you ask me. What's he hiding?"

Doctor Terry rubbed his temples then shrugged.

"I have an idea and I'm pleading privilege. I don't want to speculate. He's not exactly hiding anything."

"Very well. I have some questions, and if the answers are appropriate, I'll let this slide until I'm forced to do something. Is he a threat to the facility? To any inmate? To staff? Do I have to worry about him having a psychotic episode?"

Doctor Terry shook his head. "He's not a threat to anyone or anything as long as they aren't a threat to him. He's not psychotic, nor even particularly neurotic. A lot too tightly wound, but other than that . . . don't worry about him. I have a good idea of who and what he is and I will say this. You don't want to know anything about him except what you learn by direct observation. When the time comes we'll all find out everything we need to know. Until then . . . ignorance is bliss."

Headmaster Compton, sighed he'd been afraid of this. He now had a good idea of who and what he was dealing with, and an abused mule wasn't it. He thought very carefully before he nodded, "If you're sure . . . ok, I'll let it ride. But I don't like it. That boy . . . he's . . . "

The two men gave each other identical weary looks and left to finish up what had turned out to be a very unpleasant day.

xxxx

Duo sighed. Wufei had brought him good news and he was reveling in the fact that Heero was well, no one was abusing him. Duo shifted uncomfortably on the cushion. Quatre had produced an extra thick one for him to sit on. But it still hurt. He was out of school on a Doctor's excuse until further notice.

He was on the computer in his home office. Unashamedly doing evil things to certain people, which included making sure that their girlfriends got copies of uncomplimentary emails, dumping their homework files, and changing the passwords on everything he could get into. He also made sure that the headmaster's personal accounts wouldn't stand up to any significant examination and sent an anonymous email to ESUN Revenue. Then he did a full search on his name and attached his citizen number to some unfortunate files, files without citizen numbers of their own.

Quatre just hoped that Duo covered his tracks. He was doing some not-so-nice things himself.

Several orders from WEI to small manufacturing firms were cancelled and a few names were removed from the ball listing.

It didn't seem like much, but the orders were cancelled because of 'manufacturing irregularities;' which could mean anything from faulty materials to 'we just don't like it.'

The removal of names from the ball list was social ruin, plain and simple. Trowa smirked happily, the uncooperative caterer was the father of one of the soccer players.

Wufei wasn't sure exactly what Duo was up to, but he knew that Shinigami was on the loose and he worried. If something really bad happened to Duo Heero would murder him . . . slowly. And he wouldn't resist. He'd promised Heero he would take care of Duo and then he'd turned his back at the wrong time and look what had happened. Duo was sitting on a pillow, Duncan was gloating and he was getting an ulcer.

Quatre stuck his head in the door. "Chang we have to go or we'll be late. Duo, . . . please stay out of trouble."

Duo eyed Quatre then smiled. "I'm going to go to the office and get some real work done. There's some reports that I need to see. This ball is killing me. I understand why you need to have it but still. . . .some of these people are . . . suspicious."

Quatre gave Duo a smug look "and we're not?"

Duo smirked back. "Go . . . I thought you were going to be late."

Wufei gave Duo a severe look but didn't say anything. The look was enough, he hoped.

Trowa tucked Quatre under his arm in a gentle hug. He knew that Quatre was worried about Duo, they all still were. He still wasn't up to his old self. He switched from Shinigami to weepy too easily. He spent too much time on the computer just waiting for Heero to IM or Email him and he spent much too much time in the gardens alone. He had put up with too much shit from the soccer team too.

Duo waited until the others left then he checked his inbox.

Heero had sent him an email telling him about his 'adventure' with the bulldozer. He mailed back scolding him for risking his life, telling him that was the guards job but he knew that it wasn't going to do any good. They were all 'natural protectors' as his therapist said.

xxx

Duo got his backpack and fished through it. He tossed his ebook on his desk and put his notebook in, rummaged around and stuffed a paper notebook and a pen into another pocket, then he put his MP3 player in his braid and headed for the car. He was still pissed that he couldn't get a drivers licence for another three months. He could pilot a Gundam for god's sake.

After spending most of the morning reading reports and dealing with the usual security messes, Duo decided to take a run on the Soul Breaker. He'd designed the obstacle course to encompass everything that a man had to do during combat. Climbing, running, jumping, and coordination routines were all included.

First, a short run, then an exercise station where they were required to do fifty pushups. Then another, longer run, to the second station and fifty sit ups. The third station required climbing a framework, jumping from it to another and climbing down. The fourth station required field striping a .45 caliber pistol and reassembling it in a set amount of time. The fifth station and fifty pull ups, by now most men were on their last legs. The sixth and final station required opening a complicated set of locks and doors, getting through them led to a crawl under concertina wire, through a ditch and the final leg was another run.

Each station was supervised at all times by training personnel. Duo didn't want any man to overextend himself and get hurt, but everyone on the security team he was in charge of was expected to be able to make it through the complete circuit in what Duo considered a reasonable length of time. He allowed them twice as much time as he took.

He over heard two men as he finished the course.

"Holy fuck. I don't believe that little fart managed to make it through at all. Did you see his time?"

"Yeah, and I hate to tell you this, but he designed the thing. Little Gundam fucker is a machine. Scary when he gets mad. Do _not_ touch the hair. It'll get you hurt quick." The older, wiser man dug a water bottle out of the cooler.

"He's so young. And so little. Gundam pilot, you say. Thought they were all older. Yuy guy's in prison, isn't he?"

Duo wandered over to get a drink of water.

"Yeah, Heero's in prison. He took the hit for all of us. They got him on the 'commanders only' thing Relena set up."

Duo took the bottle of water the man handed him.

"Well, he should have. I mean . . . making you boys go into combat like that. It's not right. " the man held up a hand to forestall Duo's looming outburst

"Not saying that you four weren't good soldiers or anything like that. You were, and from the looks of it, still are. But . .. As a . . . an older man myself . . . .I just don't see it. I'll take my foot out of my mouth now."

Duo sighed. "Heero's no older than I am. We're all seventeen, except maybe Trowa. He could be eighteen."

Both men goggled at Duo. "But . . . if he was . . . I . . . well, that's a kick in the balls for sure. How could he have set up all the surveillance and what not needed to decide where and when . . . where did he get all his Intel?. . ."

The man trailed off at the arrested look Duo got.

"Buddy, give your name to the gate guard I'm putting you up for a promotion. And thanks."

Duo headed off, leaving two puzzled but happy men to wonder just what _that_ was all about.

xxxx

Duo sat down at his computer and wrote for over two hours, recalling everything he could about where their orders had come from. Each one of them had acted in concert with the others, but their orders had come from the Professors. They had each had their own controller in the professors. They had never taken orders from anyone else, unless they were told that either Quatre or Heero was in command. Duo had been in command several times himself. Wufei and Trowa had also been in command on occasion. But they had all taken their initial orders only from their own professor. They were the commanders.

After sending the report to the legal department, he sent an email to Heero asking him to write up a similar report to the enclosed address. He also sent emails to the others just to make sure he didn't forget anything.

"Connie. I'm going for a walk. I've been inside so much recently I feel like I'm gonna mold. I'm just going to walk around the area. My phone is on if you need me for anything . . . " Duo blinked at his secretary who was eyeing him oddly. "What?"

"You should take a shower and change your clothes before you go out, sir. You came directly from the training filed and shut yourself up in your office. You're kinda . . . ripe."

Duo laughed "Sorry, I had a man give me an out for all of us, I . . . kinda got distracted."

Duo went to the executive wash room, took a shower and changed into clean jeans and a t-shirt that he kept in a locker there. They all had lockers in the wash room where they could keep a change of clothing. Duo made a mental note to bring more clean clothing and headed out the door to the street.

He spent some time just walking around, enjoying the day, it still hurt to sit for long stretches of time. The time he'd spent writing the report had pushed his endurance to the limits, so it felt good to just wander around window shopping.

He stopped to watch some construction for a while and nearly had a heart attack when he saw one of the new construction mecha. It look amazingly like a damn leo. He watched as the operator nearly knocked down a shed, then managed to get himself tangled up it a cable on a crane.

Duo put his hands over his eyes and groaned. This guy was tragic. He was an accident waiting for a place to happen.

Evidently the job boss thought so to, as he called the operator in and had him rack the suit. You could hear him yelling all over the lot. Every one working had stopped to watch the suit, so the lot was quiet. Except for the royal ass eating the job boss was giving the operator.

When he ended up by telling the man that his son was a better operator than that, the operator quit, yelling, "You'll never get another operator as good as me. You're too particular, ass hole."

The job boss sent everyone home and left, locking the gate after himself.

Duo looked at the suit, then he walked around the block and looked at the suit again. He walked the rest of the way around to the other side and looked again. The suit sat there in its rack, innocently shining in the sun. It was painted that obnoxious shade of lime green that construction mecha were. It was supposed to show up against any background and warn people that it was there.

Duo couldn't for the life of him understand how anyone could not see a three story high mechanical suit walking around. He sighed softly. It wasn't a Gundam, but it was a suit.

What could it hurt? The gate was locked, no one would be in the site. Duo looked at the suit, it looked back.

Duo climbed the fence and looked at the rack. It wasn't locked.

Duo climbed the rack and opened the (unlocked for god's sake) access hatch. The pilot's seat beckoned to him like a lover.

He slid into the chair and realized why the man had been having so much trouble with the suit, the controls were all over the place. They needed celebration, so he took a few minutes to calibrate the controls. Then he started checking out the rest of the setup. It was much simpler than a Gundam. No weapons or radar. No flight controls. Just handlers.

All the suit could do was walk, carry things and use an array of construction tools that ranged from a laser cutter to a welding unit. The hands were very nice, extremely well made and sensitive. Not just a claw like most construction mecha, but real hands, like his Gundam had.

Duo moved the suit out and walked it around the lot. He didn't notice that the job boss had come back. He picked up a spool of wire and put it back down, then he picked up a cracked girder and broke it. This suit was so nice.

But the sensors sucked. He couldn't see behind, the peripherals stunk, and there was a blind spot at his feet big enough to hide a car. Which was why he nearly stepped on a police cruiser.

"Oh, shit! Son of a bitch. Hey, Officer, I'm really sorry."

Which sounded really strange coming from the loud speaker system of a three-story tall construction mobil suit.

The officer replied with his own system. "Come out of the suit."

Duo hesitantly replied "Um Officer? I can't. Not that I'm trying to resist or anything, but if I just leave the suit, it'll fall over. I have to rack it and power down."

Duo got far enough away that he could see the men. One man turned to the officer and gesticulated. The officer looked at the other man and then shook his head.

"Ok, rack it and power down. Then come out."

Duo racked the suit and powered it down, following the procedures that were second nature to him. he never thought that he might be in any kind of trouble until he got on the ground.

"Turn around and spread your legs. Don't resist me."

"I'm not resisting. What's up? What's the problem?"

"Well . . . to start with, criminal trespass. Then vandalism. If you've damaged that mobil suit. Who knows?"

Duo snorted, "Damage a construction suit? Don't think so. That thing will survive an impressive explosion."

The cop took Duo's thumbs together and Duo sighed, realizing for the first time that the man intended to handcuff him. He resisted the urge to slither out of the man's grip and teach him to be more careful. If his men were this careless he'd be eating on them for the next month. But he decided that he wanted to get through this with as little trouble as possible, so he just let the man do his job. As long as he didn't hit.

The officer was surprised by the attitude of the boy he'd just arrested. Most of these punks were rude loud and obnoxious. They invaded construction sites and tore up everything. Then all they would do was swear and complain that they had rights.

"Look, I don't know what gets into you kids. That thing is dangerous. You don't understand the power."

"Officer, I'm not trying to be rude, but I have a better idea of the powers of a mobil suit than you do. So please don't lecture me."

"Smart ass."

"You have no idea."

Duo settled back in the seat and sighed. Quatre was going to have a fit. He'd have to get him out of . . . damn

He didn't realize he'd said that out loud until the cop asked hm if he'd finally realized what he'd done.

"Yeah. My friend is going to ream my ass and my guardian is going to kill me flat out. Damnit. It. . . I just. . . oh hell."

The cop was satisfied. The boy finally realized what he'd done. That was good enough for him.

"You realize that you could have really hurt some people? If you don't know what you're doing with one of those things you should leave it alone. Right?"

"Right." Duo decided that it wasn't a lie, everything the man had said was true and he hadn't said that Duo didn't know what he was doing.

When they got to the station Duo had a major flash back. He saw dozens of big men in uniforms looking at him and just lost it. He backed up into the officer, moaning. When the officer realized that he was freaking out, he picked Duo up and dragged him, literally kicking and screaming, into an interrogation room. Which didn't help matters much, Duo's prior experiences with that being what they were.

The commander heard the disturbance and came to check on it. When he saw Duo, he did a double take that nearly gave him whiplash.

"That's . . . that boy." He turned to the arresting officer and practically yelped. "Please tell me you didn't . . . he didn't."

The officer gave his commander a puzzled look. "He was operating that new construction mobil. I took the call. What's the matter? And what's his malfunction?"

"He's Duo Maxwell. _The_ Duo maxwell. I recognized him from the resistance. I was a cell commander. And we need to get him out of those cuffs . . . now. You have no idea what some alliance goons did to him."

They couldn't get near Duo, he had managed to wedge himself between a file cabinet and the wall. They tried to move the cabinet but it was bolted to the floor. Duo scooted back as far as he could, which put him just out of reach. He didn't do anything but crouch in a space that seemed too small for him, all they could see was wide amethyst eyes blinking at them from a narrow, dim slit

"Fuck. We got to get him out of there. If his guardian sees him like that, we're in a world of hurt. What the hell were you thinking cuffing a juvenile who didn't resist. He obeyed your legitimate commands and even made sure that the suit wasn't damaged by your ignorance. If he'd been a smart ass, he'd have come out of the suit and let it fall when it automatically powered down."

The officer shoved his hand through his thinning hair and bit his lip. "I though I'd just put the fear of the law into him. Cuff a kid and bring him to the station, let him sit out in the bull pen or in the interrogation room for a while until his parents can get here to collect him. Scares them enough, sometimes, that we never see them again."

"I see. That's good old-fashioned discipline. Iron fist, velvet glove stuff. But it really backfired this time. So now what?"

The commander couldn't fault the officer, his little trick worked enough of the time that it was worth it. But right now they had a mess on their hands. In the person of one scared to death, very deadly, teenaged ex-terrorist.

"How are we going to get him out of there before his guardian gets here? And besides, I didn't double lock those cuffs."

"And why not?"

"They won't double lock on the very end of the rachet. I didn't fasten them . . . just hit the first tooth."

"Well . . . fuck."

The cop looked worried, if Duo in his panic, had tightened the cuffs, he could be in real trouble.

"Find out where his guardian is and call him or her and get them here. Send a car. Now. I'm not going to be responsible for this turning into more than it has to. We mess around and he could be crippled. Go . . . now."

The desk Sargent was an old timer and hadn't waited for orders he knew that what they had on their hands could go bad quickly. He looked Duo up without any trouble and found out that his legal guardian was Irea Winner, but his guardian of record was Quatre Raberba Winner. So he called Quatre's cell phone.

xxxx

Quatre answered his cell. The teachers all hated it but he was adamant. He was in control of one of the biggest corporations in the system and he didn't intend to loose a contract, or have major problems develop, just to soothe the ego of some high school teacher. He took it out into the hall.

After one sentence he asked quick questions then hung up. He called Trowa and then Wufei. One word was all it took to have them all walking out of their classes.

Well actually two. "Duo, trouble."

They all met in the hallway and ran right into Mr. Duncan. "You four have left classes for the last time. Either go back to classes or you're expelled. If you're expelled, you'll have to be tutored, and that will cost you and. . . hey!"

Quatre had given Mr Duncan a funny look, then made the universal gestures for 'up yours' and 'let's go.'

On the way to the car Quatre called the desk Sargent again.

"Don't approach him. We'll be there in no time. If he tries to leave, just let him. He won't hurt anyone unless he feels threatened. Then all bets are off. Yes."

He turned to Wufei. "We better hurry. He's holed up in an interrogation room. The desk Sargent said we better get there fast."

He gave the driver directions, then settled back to make a few calls.

He called his legal team to have them find out what was going on. What charges had been filed? The call he got back confused him, until the lawyer explained that Duo had fallen afoul of the scared straight program. Which was good. He wasn't charged with anything and wouldn't be, unless the owner of the construction firm decided to be a hard ass.

"That won't happen."

Wufei looked tired. This could turn out very badly. It depended on who owned the mobil suit. And how badly they wanted to make an example of Duo.

"How do you know?"

"I'm the only one who owns construction mobiles in this district. I wasn't aware that they had been delivered yet."

Trowa snorted, trust Quatre not to realize that any mobile suit was an attractive nuisance of major proportions.

When they got to the station, Wufei charged the desk like a fire breathing dragon. Trowa was reminded of, not the gentle oriental dragon, but the fierce northern one.

"Where is he? I want to see him . . . now. Right now."

The desk sargent only saw a demanding young oriental. "Take it easy there, kid. What's wrong?"

Wufei snarled, he wasn't taking this hold up any better than he ought. "You have my . . . my obligation here. I want to see him, now."

"Your . . . who? What? Start at the beginning and talkie slow."

"Do _not_ patronize me. Duo Maxwell is my obligation. He's here. I want to see him . . . now. If you don't take me to him, the consequences could be disastrous."

"Easy there. Don't threaten me. It's not doing you any good."

Wufei pinched the bridge of his nose. "Officer, I'm not threatening you. I don't make threats. But I understand he's having a flash back. Believe me, you don't want to meet Shinigami. If Duo gets frightened enough, or feels truly threatened, he'll be more than you can handle."

The desk Sargent recognized the name and shuddered. "You mean that little kid is a Gundam pilot? Oh shit."

Wufei gave up, just like Heero had. "Yes, he is. And I'm another. If we don't get him out of there soon, we could have a real situation on our hands. Please."

The desk Sargent made a decision that came quite easily. "Ok, but I got to call the commander. He's in there trying to get Duo to come out."

"He won't do it until he see me or one of the others. I'll wait at the door. Please, lead me to him."

The desk Sargent did exactly that and let all three of them to the interrogation room where the commander was couched on the floor, peering in the small space between the cabinet and wall. He was holding out a hand coaxingly and talking softly to Duo.

Duo showed no signs of coming out. He was still wedged as far back in the space as he could get. Wufei tapped the commander on the shoulder and motioned for him to move away. He did so and Wufei couched where Duo could see him

"Maxwell. Come out of there. We need to get those cuffs off you."

"Wufers? Damnit. I . . . this isn't right . . . I feel . . . report!" Duo seemed in the middle of a major flash back, so Wufei humored him. Their therapist had explained that part of the mind remembered that it wasn't real but the rest was trapped in the past. Playing to the scenario worked well.

"Very well. It isn't right. These people are on our side. There's been a mistake. Come out so I can get those cuffs off you. You're dripping blood all over."

Duo obediently crawled out of the crack and stood up to allow Wufei to remove the cuffs. When Wufei got a good look at his wrists, he let out his breath in a soft hiss. The metal bands had cut into Duo's wrists badly. He was bleeding and his hands were cold.

"How long have these been so tight? Duo, talk to me. Don't shut down."

Duo gasped and then managed to get his hands working enough to clutch one wrist in the other hand.

"I'm not sure. I got into the car and when I sat down they closed. Then I . . . guess I went . . . away. Wufei. What happened to me? I thought they were Oz. I . . . can we leave now?"

Duo went from confused to sharp in the blink of an eye.

"No, you can't leave yet." The arresting officer wasn't clicking. "We have to fill out a report. You're not in any trouble. Your guardian is the owner of the machine and has refused to press charges. But what with one thing and another this has been an unmitigated disaster from the word go. We need to get pictures and make sure you're not hurt in any other way."

The commander was not happy, he had a bleeding kid on his hands and a pissed off guardian passing messages through his secretary.

Duo gave the officer a bitter look. "What difference does it make? I'm fine. I've had lots worse."

"Not on my watch you haven't. I don't believe in beating people. Especially not kids. I know you think you're a man but . . ."

The commander poked the man in the back before he insulted all four of them. He wasn't interested in having a giant scene in his bull pen. He motioned to all of them to come into his office.

"I'll take a few pictures and fill out some papers. Won't take long. Then we have to see the judge. I know, Mr Winner, that you aren't pressing charges" The commander gave Quatre a smirk then sighed. "but the site manager is. And that's a problem. But we'll handle it through channels and it'll all be fine."

Quatre pulled out his phone and made a call. Duo was sitting with a funny look on his face; half pain and half he wasn't sure what. Quatre shuddered slightly. When Duo got a certain look on his face, everybody needed to duck, things tended to get out of hand quickly and he could see hints of that look.

Wufei was watching Duo carefully and he saw 'that look' wash over Duo's face, then he hunched into himself, cradling his hands against his chest.

"I"m sorry, sir. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble. I just saw the mobile and couldn't resist. I know I'm in real trouble. The judge will have my hide, I'm sure. Are the medics coming soon?"

The commander just nodded at Duo, more intent on talking to someone on the phone.

"Well, that worked out well. It seems that the site manager was persuaded by the owner of WEI himself to drop most of the charges, but the judge has already passed sentence on one of them."

Quatre made a distressed sound. Wufei groaned out loud and Trowa stepped between Duo and the door. Duo looked around rather wild eyed.

"Please, sir. I don't think I. . . . " Duo ducked his head in a manner that warned the others that he was up to something. "I can't take another flogging just yet. Is there anyway that I can get a delay . . . or something?" Duo gave the man a bright hopeful look. It was all Wufei could do to keep from choking. Trowa suppressed a snort. Quatre put his arm around Duo's shoulders in a comforting manner.

"Now, Duo. I'm sure that the sentence isn't going to be nearly as bad as at school. After all, the school is private and they get away with a lot. Don't worry. If it's too bad, I'll call the doctor, ok?"

Commander Smith locked into the conversation. "What? What are you talking about? Call a Doctor? There's a medic on the way for his wrists, he should be here now."

Just then an EMT tapped on the door, then entered without waiting for an answer.

He took one look at Duo and made an angry sort of tisking noise and put his bag on the floor.

"Here, let me see that. How in the hell did you manage to get cut up like this?" Duo let the man take one hand in his and waited as he wiped blood until he could see the cuts. "Not too deep. You've just let it go long enough that you've smeared blood all over. I'm going to spray some of this on you. It won't hurt. It's 'Healzall' artificial skin." The medic sprayed Duo's wrist. "Let me have the other."

Duo let the man clean him up and spray the invisible bandage on both wrists. Then he pulled away.

"Don't do that. I want to make sure the skin is dry before I put a gauze wrap on it. I . . . son of a bitch!"

The mans' sharp exclamation made Commander Smith lean over to examine a cringing Duo.

Trowa braced him gently. Saying softly. "They're not Oz."

The up roar was immediate and fiercely contained.

"Oz.! When were you in their hands? And . . . Let me see your wrists. They're scarred! Damnit."

Duo sighed softly. "I got captured. And they weren't nice. I know I'm in trouble. But I caught a flogging at school and it still hurts to sit if I'm not careful. If I have to take another I . . . well, I'll probably faint. I'd really rather not make a fool of myself like that. Could you see if the judge won't give me a delay of sentence or what ever you call it. Please?" Duo gave Commander Smith a pleading look.

"Flogging at school? That's barbaric. I know which school you go to and I don't like it one bit. I want to see what they did to you. If it's bad enough, I can get that Headmaster into real trouble. I know who you are. I was the resistance cell leader here. You all got a raw deal. You should have gotten medals and rewards. Instead they're trying to make you into children again and you're not. You're soldiers and deserve a lot more respect than you're getting. So . . . ahem . . . bend over and drop your pants"

Duo managed to look pathetic instead of anything else. He dropped his pants and bent over the desk. The medic eyed the bruising with a jaundiced eye and then took several pictures with his camera. The commander did the same and down loaded his files into his computer.

"I don't like the look of those bruises at all. When did you say you were . . . how many days ago was this?"

Duo looked at Quatre who just nodded, he'd caught on and so had Wufei.

"Two? Almost three now. I'm sorry to be so much trouble. Quatre will pay for whatever I cost you. I'll manage to pay him back soon. I'm really sorry."

Duo straightened up and rearranged his clothing. Wufei closed in on one side, Quatre on the other, and Trowa backed them all up. They made a united front that made the commander very nervous. He knew what they were capable of, even if no one else here did. He was very glad they were on his side.

"Don't be sorry. I'm enhancing the file to show what those bruises looked like fresh. Fuck. That bastard. I wouldn't beat a dog like that. Never mind a man. This is . . . chargeable. How old are you?"

"Seventeen. I'm still a minor. Why?"

"Because, if you are emancipated or have a guardian that isn't living with you . . . well . . . I know Mrs. Winner is on L4. Lives there. And your guardian of record is Mr. Winner, CEO of WEI so. . . . we got that fuck and you don't even have to go to court. All I need is a report and these pictures. And my description of your attitude."

Duo blinked at the man for a moment. "I have a report in my notebook. I sent an e-mail to a friend of mine. Will that do?"

"Let me see it."

Duo downloaded the e-mail he'd sent Heero into the commanders computer. When he started reading it he smiled. "Reads like a mission report to me. You two trade mail like this a lot?"

"Yes, sir. We can't seem to break the habit.'

"Well, we got him dead to rights. He was an Alliance Sympathizer in the war. I've been wanting to get that fuck for years."

Duo ducked his head so the commander wouldn't see his eyes. They were a dead give away.

"I need to know what my sentence was so I can prepare I. . ." This was the only thing that had Duo worried. The commander was taking his act at face value. Duo thought the man knew he was acting but wasn't questioning anything. With good reason.

"Sentence? . . . oh yeah. Um m m. . . . here it is. Forty hours community service for creating a public nuisance. Hope you like gardening."

Duo blinked, Wufei snorted, Quatre smiled and Trowa just groaned.

xxxxxxxx

Well, another chapter done. I'm sorry it took so long. I have two fictions started and this is the last time I do that. I don't do justice to one. And unfortunately this is the one that is suffering. I'm hoping to post two or even three chapters before I go back to To Serve. I want to thank everyone for their patience with me and I'll try to do better, really I will.


	9. Track and Field

The Price They Paid: Track and Field

Duo insisted on driving to the school and parking outside the main building. They were treated to the sight of Mr. Duncan being lead out of the building in handcuffs, protesting all the way

Duo was leaning on their car when he was put into the cruiser. He made sure that the Headmaster saw him then mouthed "Got ya" and smirked at him. He touched two fingers to his eyebrow in a cocky salute. Duncan glared but could do nothing but get into the cruiser never to be seen again.

"That's what I call making the system work for you. Q-man we need to talk, all of us."

Quatre nodded. "We are going to have a meeting tonight. Come to my bed room. Trowa. Will you sweep it before then please?"

TRACK

Trowa shut his equipment down and tucked it away. He decided he was going to sweep the entire house this week end. He didn't think there were any bugs but if Duo was going to propose what he thought he wanted to make sure.

And when they met after dinner Duo did indeed propose exactly what Trowa thought he would.

"Guys. I've been thinking. We need to act instead of reacting. While we were pilots that was good. We followed orders; did what we were supposed to do. We fought and sweated and bled. Now that we're not useful anymore, they just want to forget about us. Well, we deserve better than that. I don't want a medal or stuff like that. I just want the respect we deserve and to be left alone to live like we want to. Another year and we'll all be adults but until then every ass hole and his dog wants to control us. What do you say?"

Wufei was even more resentful than Duo or Trowa. "You know that I'm one of only about a thousand survivors of my colony. We are all entitled to a percentage of the off colony assets. As the last of my clan I'm entitled to approximately eighty percent of the total. The other survivors are trying to deprive me of access to it until I'm twenty-five. That's ridiculous. I was responsible enough to risk my life to defend peace but I'm not responsible enough to handle my own finances. Thanks to Quarte the legalities are almost concluded . . . in my favor. But it still rankles. I'm not lying down and taking it anymore. I want justice for all of us. " He gave Duo a dirty look. "Maxwell, do _not_ start."

Duo held up a hand. "Not a chance. You're right, I'm right. I still want to hear what Q and Trow' have to say."

Trowa considered, he tugged Quatre into a hug and nuzzled his nose into the fluffy blond locks at the nape of his neck. Wufei and Duo could hear him whisper softly to Quatre.

"Well, . . . ok. Trowa and I agreed sometime ago that we would keep a low profile until or unless something happened. Excluding Heero being fucked over. So . . . if you want. We have several ways we can go. I think the easiest is to wait another month." At Duo's sharp exclamation Quatre held up a hand. "Easy, Duo. If we stay low for another month, several things will happen. The best is that the statute of limitations on war related recording media will expire. I have first option to buy up most of the footage. I intend to do exactly that. In fact, a team of lawyers has instructions to pay whatever it costs. Then we launch our attack. The footage includes almost every recording made at several Oz and Alliance bases . . . on earth and the colonies. There's a lot of useless footage from other sources. I've managed to make sure that everything pertaining to Gundam Pilots is in one lot and that is the lot I have an option on. Now . . ."

Duo suddenly saw exactly where Quarte was headed and crowed in delight. "Q, you are a little devil."

"Yes and I'm getting my pitchfork good and sharp. The other thing is, when we get that footage it also includes a bunch of communiques from the professors. That gives us a toe hold possibility of establishing the fact that the professors were our commanding officers and since they are all dead . . . that proves that Heero was used as a scape goat. We might even get all charges against him dropped and his sentence reversed. That would make it necessary for the authorities to expunge his record. So we need to stay low for another month. But that don't mean we put up with shit. Duo, you are still having trouble with the soccer team. I know you are. I'll make arrangements for them to have a little reward."

Trowa snorted and Wufei suddenly grinned in a feral way. Duo snarled, "Reward . . . damnit Q."

"Oh yes . . . a wonderful reward. They are sure to win the game tomorrow night. And I'm going to make arrangements for them to try out our new obstacle course . . . under the guidance of its designer. Now throw that fit."

Duo started laughing and nearly fell off the bed. Trowa had to grab him by one arm and Wufei snatched an ankle, they hauled him back on the bed and wrestled him flat on his back. Trowa pinned him by the shoulders, Wufei lay across his legs and Quatre tickled him until he begged for mercy and swore to stay out of trouble. With his fingers crossed.

The next day was interesting as they were still expelled, but the new Headmaster was trying to smooth over problems as best he could. The arrest of the old headmaster had left him with a lot of dirty laundry to wash. Including trying to explain where some funds had disappeared to. The investigation of Mr. Duncan's affairs was bleeding into everything he'd touched.

Records had been confiscated and paperwork that should have been available couldn't be found. Some class records were . . . not there. And others were so obviously tampered with that some students who'd graduated were going to have to be retested. Duo smirked. Most of the soccer team was going to have to retest on finals from their freshman year

It seemed that Mr. Duncan was a soccer fanatic and had 'nudged' some final scores so that his team would have the best players no matter what. Duo smirked some more. Most of the players were in academic trouble.

Most of their families were in social and/or financial difficulties. It might not seem fair to some but to Duo it made perfect sense. If you didn't know what your kids were up to, you deserved to suffer from the repercussions from their actions. 'You made 'im, you raise 'im' was his philosophy.

After sitting in the office for half an hour, they were ushered into the Headmaster's citadel. He was sitting behind the desk looking uncomfortable and unhappy.

"I'm not exactly sure what to say. You've been expelled. I'm sure there were extenuating circumstances. But the governing board has made it clear. I'm not to reverse the old Headmaster's decisions, it would leave us open to too many law suits. So . . . I've made a decision of my own. You all are obviously not happy here. You've tested out of so many classes that you could graduate now if it was legally possible. So I'm going to allow you to come back to finish your humanities, next semester. You'll have to be home schooled the rest of this one. Tutors are extremely expensive but I have a list of very good ones that you could hire."

He handed a piece of paper to Quatre who just took it and smiled. He had no intention of ever crossing the threshold of this school again if he could get out of it. In fact, he was pulling a grant or two and talking to some of his business acquaintances about their donations to a private school that allowed, even encouraged, the headmaster to fudge grades and abuse students.

"I've made arrangements to 'make up' with the soccer team. I have an obstacle course at my training facility in the city. It was designed by an expert in the field, with considerable help from three other experts. It is one of the finest in the world. They are all invited to come and run it. They will be treated just like my security teams. I think they will find it inspirational and educational. Please. Tell the coach. He can get in touch with my secretary and she'll make the final arrangements. It is a reward for winning the game tonight. I'm sure they will."

Duo made a snorting sound and smirked at the new headmaster in a nasty sort of way that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He knew what the problem was. The soccer team was all masculine with a capital M. They thought that Duo was queer and a femmie fairy. None of them could understand that sexual preferences didn't mean that someone wasn't tough, he intended to change some attitudes. And attitude adjustment could be painful.

They left the office and threaded the gauntlet of halls full of immature and annoying peers.

Trowa carried the big duffel into the gym. they'd all managed to escape the class more often than not just because the coach seemed not to care if they were there or not. So Trowa stood in the middle of the locker room and waited as Duo Wufei and Quatre emptied their lockers and handed him their gym things. He stuffed everything into the duffel and they started to leave.

Duo poked Quatre and motioned to the gym. The coach was lining up a bunch of older boys trying to get them organized for a rope climb. It was one of the timed exercises that had to be passed.

Quatre rounded Wufei and Trowa up with a glance and they all invaded the class laughing and snickering.

"Oh Geeze, look at that . . . sitting down on the job. Can't stand it." Duo snickered loudly.

"They're supposed to sit on the floor first. They have to rest before they exert that much energy." Wufei's cold sneer carried clearly across the now silent gym.

Quatre capped the climax by remarking. "But Trowa. I thought that you were supposed to kind of roll down the rope, not sit on the floor holding it. Or should one person sit while the other rolls. I'm lost."

The coach snarled, "We'll see about those smart asses . . . " then louder "all right you four, why don't you show us how it's done if you're so smart?"

Duo bounced over grinning like a maniac. "Ok, coach. Here, you got your little watch thing?" he turned to one of his tormentors. "Oh, there you are Frankie. Why don't you show us dummies how it's supposed to be done, so we can see how superior you are?"

So Frankie sat down, took hold of the rope and when coach said 'go,' started pulling himself up by his hands. You weren't supposed to let your legs drop, but by the time he was near the top you could hear him wheezing and his legs weren't at a ninety-degree angle anymore. It was more like a hundred and ten. Then he started down and just slid the last eight feet or so.

"Oooohhh . . . that's want you're supposed to do. Trowa, you told me wrong. Shame on you."

Trowa ducked behind his bangs and made a funny sound, sort of like 'snerk,' he sauntered lazily over to a rope and settled down on the floor. The coach snarled, "The rest of you guys get ready."

So they all did, settling down and wiping their hands. When they were all ready, the coach blew his whistle and the whole class was treated to the sight of real, trained athletes, whose very lives depended on their physical abilities, racing each other to the top of a fifteen-foot long rope using only the strength in their arms. Their form was perfect, legs remained at a ninety-degree angle. They all made it completely to the top, the smack of hands on girders was loud in the gym. Trowa was first but the other three were a dead heat. Nearly simultaneous smacks sounded out.

The trip back down was accomplished with a speed that made the coach fear some mortal injury was about to occur. When they were all down again, he blinked then snarled, "Well, guys that is how it's supposed to be done. I don't know where you all got the idea that any of those guys are fairies. You four get on out of here. You're expelled, sorry to say."

So they finished packing their things and, amid the groans and moans of a class of disgusted boys, headed out to clean out their hallway lockers.

"Bye guys. Have fun. And remember . . . any landing you can walk away from is a fucking miracle." Duo sauntered away, braid swinging.

Wufei was the only one who didn't laugh, he was too busy eyeing a collection of weapons hanging behind a locked gate. He poked Duo, who eyed them too.

"Ya wanna, Fei? You shouldn't, ya know."

"Maxwell, I don't always do what I ought. Nor do I refrain from doing things I shouldn't. Watch your grammar."

Duo glanced at the coach, who was busy haranguing the class. So he picked the lock and handed Wufei a naginata.

"I like to watch you work with that. It's just so. . I dunno what. Please?"

Wufei couldn't refuse Duo when he looked like that. So eager and happy. He hadn't realized that Duo watched him that much.

"Very well. If you like. I'll do a simple kata."

"Naw, do the Dragon over Clouds, . . . please."

The others added their pleas to Duo's, so Chang Wufei started one of the most complicated katas in the Naginata set he knew.

When the coach saw him, his jaw dropped. This was one of the times he wished he'd stayed at his old public school. He couldn't do anything with most of the rich, lazy kid's in this school and the athletes were another matter all together. They were dedicated and nearly obsessive. He was proud of them but to have such a martial artist available would have been a plus to his martial arts team.

"That's what I get for listening to that 'kicker'. Ball players!"

He coached martial arts, self defense and wrestling. He and the soccer coach had little to do with each other, each considering the other a dilettante.

Wufei finished his kata and handed the naginata to Duo, who locked it up again.

They went on to the halls and emptied their lockers without further incidents, but on their way out of the building they ran right into the soccer coach.

"Well. You think you're so smart. I'll have you know that we _will _win that game and get that trip to WEI. Then you'll all see. My boys are the best there are. We'll make the Drill Sergeants there sit up and take notice."

Duo smirked at Wufei. "Sure they will. We'll be there too. You wanna pick up the pieces or shall we leave it to the pick up squad."

Wufei shook his head. "Maxwell, I doubt that some of them will make it far enough to need the pick up squad. They'll stall out at the first station."

The coach turned a funny shade of purple. "My boys can take anything that obstacle course can dish out. You'll see. Too bad you light weights can't be there to see it."

Trowa shrugged and touched Quatre on the shoulder, they turned and started walking away following Wufei and Duo. "Yes. Too bad."

In the car Duo sighed slightly. Wufei, more sensitive to his moods now, just poked his shoulder.

"I miss Heero. I wish he was here. He'd love that obstacle course. I designed it with him in mind. He'd . . . aw, shit!" Duo rubbed his face and leaned back in the seat. All the others closed in on him in a group hug that seemed to be the only thing that comforted him anymore. They were all comforted.

Duo bounced maniacally on the bed. It was Wufei's bed, but that didn't make any difference. He was happy and wound up, so he bounced on the bed, chattered like a monkey, and in general made the other three smile. He hadn't acted like this in months.

"Duo, stop bouncing on the bed, you're giving me a headache" Wufei smiled indulgently.

"Should I take a . . . no, I want . . . I'll load up. Damnit, I wish Heero was here. I know they _are_ taking care of him but . . . can we watch the video again before we leave?"

Quatre had gotten a print of all the footage from the interview Heero had given. He didn't look much like the few seconds of footage Relena had released during the trial. He looked young and tired instead of business like and neat. Duo watched the footage every day and sometimes twice.

"No, we won't have time. Now calm down and act professional."

Duo smiled at Wufei and it wasn't one of his cheerful grins, it was the God of Death smirk

"Ok." Duo took a deep breath, sighed, and changed; from a seventeen-year-old excited young man into a hardened soldier. "Well, let's do this. I'm ready."

Wufei just hoped that no one got too smart with Maxwell, he didn't feel like cleaning up blood or explaining to upset parents.

The drive to the training facility was short and accomplished in silence. Duo was in what Quatre called 'soldier mode' and so was Trowa. Wufei was in instructor 'mode' and Quatre was ready to organize the outing to minimize damage as much as possible, they wanted to teach the soccer team a lesson, not kill them. 'Dead people can't learn from their mistakes and other only learn fear.'

Duo unloaded at the gate to the obstacle course, he looked quite different from his appearance at school. The uniform of light pants, oxford shirt and green jacket, that they all had to wear had never suited him. Now he was dressed in BDU's of concrete camouflage, grey boots and a pack vest with enough pockets to hide many things. Most of which exploded in one way or another. At his feet was a grey pack.

He turned to speak to Quatre just as a phone went off. The strains of a violin identified it as Quatre's. He answered and snarled. Trowa flinched, that particular sound had become inexorably linked in his mind to quatre becoming the executive head of WEI. Which meant that they were going to have to work instead of play?

"What is it now?"

Quatre sighed. "The Board of Directors of ESUN Bank wants to meet with us at 10:30." He looked at his watch. "that's in about thirty-five minutes. Call Mr. Bancroft's secretary and tell her we'll be there, but we will be in casual clothing as this is Saturday and we were planning to play war games. I'm not going to let them put me off my stride because we're not appropriately dressed. I'm dressed just fine for corporate raiding, thank you."

"Quatre? Tell me again why I can't shoot them." Trowa gathered Quatre into his arms and rubbed his cheek against soft, fluffy hair.

"Because . . . if you shoot them, I won't get that construction loan." Quatre settled against Trowa's chest with a grumble. He'd really been looking forward to watching Duo make fools of a bunch of stuck up, rich, bums.

Duo watched with amusement and not a little envy. It hurt to see Quatre and Trowa together in a 'not jealous just lonely' sort of way. He didn't begrudge them their togetherness, he just missed Heero.

Duo sat on the retaining wall and watched as the team and, surprise, the coach gathered in the staging area to wait for their guide. They milled around bragging about how they were going to show the 'real' guys up. Duo snickered, they hadn't noticed him and probably wouldn't.

All right, people . . . excuse me. . . . HEY, SHUT UP! . . . thank you." Mr. Lyons looked at the gathering of boys, then he shuddered slightly. "My name is Mr. Lyons. You will _not _call me leo. You will pay _attention_ to me when I speak. My job is to see that you all get through this course without getting hurt. If I say shit and duck, you shit a pile and crawl under it. You will be running the same course that all the recruits do. I expect you to act your age, _not _your IQ. No horse play. We will be running this course with Mr. Maxwell. You will call him SIR. You will call me SIR. WE will be setting the example you WILL follow. If one of us says you're out, you're out. No one will be allowed to injure themselves for vanities sake. Everyone examine the course map you've been given. Each section has several people scattered along it. If you get into _trouble,_ they will be there to _help_ you. You _will_ obey them. Each station has people who are there to count your reps. You _will_ obey them. In case you haven't gotten it through your heads yet, you _will_ obey _anyone_ in a uniform. You will _not_ get smart with the instructors. You will _not_ act up. These people have given up their Saturday so that you can do this. So. . . . now, you have five minutes to review the map. Sit and read."

Duo watched the group. The coach what the hell is that man's name? looked worried. The boys all looked ready for anything. He waited until the group had looked at the maps, and gave them credit for actually reading them over and trying to commit them to memory.

Mr. Lyons called them all over to the pack rack and told them that the real recruits would run with a pack that weighed as much as a mission pack. He invited them to lift a pack and decide if they wanted to try to carry one or not. He also advised them against it. Most of them decided against as it the packs weighed fifty pounds. The coach hefted one and shook his head, then told the few who had to put them down.

Duo dropped from the wall as the group headed out to the first station, he was going to bring up the rear and collect the dropouts. He didn't see most of them lasting past the second station because his idea of a short run was 300 yards. He was pretty sure that the fifty pushups would put at least half the second stringers out. He was right.

The pick up crews were already hauling panting, gasping bodies back to the gatehouse. He was last into the station but the first finished with his pushups, clicking them off in less than a minute. Mr. Lyons was correcting form, walking from one boy to another. The coach even got a 'keep your butt down.'

The second run was even longer than the first at 600 yards. Duo waited until the first batch of boys got on the track and followed them, watching as they proved that they were somewhat tougher than white bread. He back tracked several times to check on the progress of the whole group. He consulted with one of the Sargent's and told him to see if he couldn't clump them up a little better.

"I don't like them strung out like this. Coach is taking eyes behind but still. . . ."

"Ok, Sir. I'll see what we can do. You want to leave that pack with me? If you're going to keep heel nipping, you're going to wear yourself out."

Duo shook his head. "I got a few surprises in it. It only weighs about thirty pounds and I'm only going to run the course once, so I'll be fine."

The Sargent cringed, he'd been on the receiving end of one of Duo's surprises.

At the next station they wiped out six more boys as the sit ups did them in. Duo finished first again and waited until Mr. Lyons told the faster ones to slow up a little for the slower ones.

"Why should we let them ruin our time? That's not fair." The captain of the team hadn't gotten the idea yet.

"Because, you idiots don't know the first thing about real team work. You keep together. You help each other out. You all worry too much about being first. A good time isn't necessarily a good thing. Sometimes it's about backup instead. You understand that? . . . " Lyons could see that they didn't really. "Get on the trail and stay together."

Duo watched as the faster ones tried to out run the slower ones and he tapped the two worst offenders on the shoulders. "You're out. You too . . . Pick up."

"You can't throw me off the course, you're nobody. " The taller boy got in Duo's face. He was one of the worst for giving Duo shit. He didn't even bother to be careful. Duo grabbed the boy in a come along that gave him no choice except to do as he was told.

Duo stuffed him in the cart and told the driver. "If he gets off, cuff him to the rail. Get him off my course, he offends me." Duo stuck his face right up to the other's nose and snarled, "You're a waste of skin. If I had a choice of depending on you and going it alone, I'd go alone. You're self-centered, selfish, and stupid. You don't know enough about team work to fill a thimble."

The driver got away from Duo as fast as was safely possible and gave a gasp of relief, he didn't like that look at all. It promised death and disaster. The two boys just sat and shook, finally aware that they had been playing with fire and just avoided getting burned because the fire was sentient.

The coach realized that his boys were failing the course because their idea of team work was to backstab each other so they looked better. He wondered where he went wrong, never realizing that his insistence that scoring and winning were the most important things was what had caused this fiasco.

When the group gathered at the third station, Duo took the first shot. He scrambled up the ladder, jumped to the rope, Tarzan swing to the other side. He didn't need any help from the spotter to get onto the platform and down the ladder on the other side. He watched as the rest of the group managed to make it to the first platform but most of them refused the swing and had to climb down the ladder, run to the other side of the frame, climb up that one and down the other side again. He spent the next twenty minutes laughing up his sleeve, while the spotters grabbed, pushed, and poked. He was still wearing his pack.

"Ok, People, this station is beyond the skills of many of you. Anyone here know how to field strip a .45?" a few hands went up. "Good. How fast can you do it?"

The results were painful to Duo, the fastest strip down was well over a minute as the boy fumbled with the slide release and dropped the clip. The others weren't sure enough of what they were doing for the spotter to allow them to continue.

Coach Williams that's his name stepped up to the bench and took his turn. It took him fifty seconds and he turned to Duo with a smirk of satisfaction. "Do better than that."

"Ok, Coach." Duo put his hands flat on the table, at 'go' he picked up the pistol and with a few spare, practiced motions popped the clip, flipped off the slide, pulled the spring and barrel; then reversed the process. "Fifteen seconds. Right?"

Mr. Lyons grinned "On the button, Sir. As for the rest of you, you've all failed this stage. The limit is forty five seconds. You've all technically failed the course."

Duo turned and motioned to the next stage. "After you bunch are through fumbling your way through this, I'll show you how it should be done. Go!"

They ran another 500 yards with Duo leading the way. When they realized that they had to do pull ups, the whole group groaned. Not that it was very loud, out of thirty starters there were only about ten left. Most of the first string. The pull ups eliminated another four. They just dropped after about ten and gave up groaning that it was inhuman and whoever had designed the course was a sadist.

Duo, still in the middle of pull ups, laughed. "So I'm a sadist, am I. I didn't know that fairies could be. Forty-nine, fifty." Duo dropped to the ground and twisted from one side to the other. He wasn't getting much of a workout, chasing these kids from one end to the other made him run more but at a much slower speed so he was really in good shape.

"Now we get to the fun part. Open the door, go through, close the door. Follow the numbers.

If you go through in the wrong order, you have to go back to the last correct door and try again. Then the combat course and we're done."

Duo demonstrated, except he made a few detours through doors with big red 'M's on them. Those doors were locked and he had to take time to pick the locks. It took him ten minutes of fast, furious work to make it through the fifteen doors.

Duo returned to the group and popped his shoulders. "Now, you all get to do it the combat way. I just showed you how it should be done, without the special effects. You get the full treatment. Go!"

The boys started through the door and Duo gave them their first surprise. He started throwing flash-bangs. Two of the boys just plain quit, running for the safety of the spotters. The rest grimly kept on, but three of them finally broke down, one actually cried. The last three couldn't get through the whole course and Duo finally called a halt to it.

"Ok, ok, enough. You all aren't going to get through the rest of the course, no matter how hard you try. I'll show you how that goes, and remember. I've done this for real."

Duo entered the last part of the course, which consisted of crawling through a ditch, under barbed wire, then crossing a field of concertina wire and then a 1000 yard run to the end of the course, which ended at the beginning on the other side of the gate house.

Then the fun began. Explosions, gun shots, smoke, fire; everything suddenly went to hell in a hand cart. Duo didn't even seem to notice. He wriggled through the ditch on his belly and then rolled over onto his back to pull himself under the barbed wire. He dodged the concertina wire, jumping over some and crawling under the rest. Then he darted into the final run completing it in no time at all. He still had his pack.

"Ok, Guys. That's not it yet. This is a demonstration of fighting skills. You'll notice that my opponent is Chang Wufei. Be scared, be very scared. He's as good as they come. In martial arts and I wouldn't put him up against many and expect him to lose. I've got a fifty-fifty chance of beating him. Maybe."

Wufei stepped out of the shadows and everyone except Duo and Mr. Lyons flinched. Coach Williams wondered if he could get his boys away before their confidence was completely broken, then realized it was already too late.

All the soccer team had been brought back to the gate house and to see the match between Duo and Wufei

Wufei circled Duo, who just took a defensive stance and turned to face him. The exchange was quick and deadly. Wufei started a punch, Duo blocked; Wufei launched a kick, Duo jumped it and flipped over his head. Turning quickly, Wufei tried to get back face to face with Duo, but he wound up on his knees with Duo holding his head in a grip that all he had to do was jerk his hands apart to break his neck. Wufei clapped his hands in front of his face.

"Ok, I give. Duo . . . " Duo offered Wufei his hand to help him up "that was good. You scare the hell out of me. " Wufei clapped Duo on the back and turned to the goggling group. "During the war, he was called Shinigami, I was called the Dragon. Work it out and realize how lucky you all are that we don't make war on children. Go home, tell your parents what you've been up to. Apologies will make life much easier on your whole family."

They started to leave, but the coach stopped them.

"Wait, you're . . . damnit. I knew you were hiding something. But not this. I thought . . . well, it doesn't matter what I thought. I learned a lesson myself. I'll be rethinking a lot of things . . . but I still don't like . . . er . . . boys . . . well, you know."

Wufei examined the man for a second. "My sex life, or lack there of, is not your business . . . unless I make a pass at you. Then a simple no is in order. You are supposed to be a good example for your boys. If that is a good example, I'm glad I only had bad ones. Excuse me. I'm not usually rude to my elders but in this case, I . . . you make me feel older than dirt."

Wufei bowed to him and Duo followed suit. They went into the gate house and headed for the showers. The soccer team, coach and all just got back on the bus and left in defeat.

FIELD

Heero had been moved from the cattleyard. Mr. Cooper had told Headmaster Compton that his skills were being wasted in shoveling manure. So he was replaced by a bovine young man whose intelligence was barely above his charges. He didn't mind much, he was using his free time to study on his own. He had already tested out of every required class and most of the other classes available. He was now taking college classes on line.

He'd settled into a routine; get up, check mail, check with the desk, exercise, work the cows, breakfast, check mail, school, check mail, lunch, free time, check mail, supper, homework, check mail, bed. Start again. Part of his free time every other day was spent in sessions with Mr. Terry.

Mr. Terry seemed to be inordinately interested in his training, a thing that Heero found uncomfortable and unpleasant. He didn't want to remember the little he did, much less delve into his feelings about it. He wanted to . . . change? He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted. He didn't think he'd ever be normal. He'd be satisfied with being able to love Duo, keep out of trouble and manage some kind of job. They were working toward some kind of equilibrium. Things were getting somewhere near that.

Right now he was wondering if he could get on a work release program. It would look good on his record and he could get off the grounds and do something worth doing. It would only be a road crew but pulling weeds, mowing road sides, and picking up trash was preferable to boredom. And he could prove his trustworthiness. Not that Mr. Compton needed further proof but again it would look good on his record.

"Hey, Heero. Headmaster wants you."

Heero sighed. Every time Mr. Compton wanted to see him unpleasant things followed shortly. Now what?

"Hello, Heero. You've been wanting to get on one of the road crews. There's an opening on one of the mowing crews. You'll be working with men from the local jail. It's a good crew, one of the best. I like getting guys on with them. They'll take care of you and watch over you. Only draw back is . . . they mow with old-fashioned scythes. And you have to wear leg irons. It's part of a scared straight program."

Heero gave Mr. Compton an arrested look then started laughing. He couldn't help it. Mow with a scythe? Duo would fall over.

"Well, I'm glad to be the source of amusement . . . yes . . . or no." Mr. Compton didn't mind Heero laughing. He didn't do much of that or even smile. So . . .

"Yes Sir, I'm sorry to laugh. But my lover has a thing about scythes. Private joke you might say." Heero ducked his head to look through his bangs. He was finally getting over his reticence. J. wasn't going to spring out of the shadows and punish him for laughing.

"Well. Good for you. So I take it the answer is yes?" Heero nodded. "Glad to hear it. I'll send you down to the jail this afternoon and you'll be fitted with leg irons. You'll find these a bit different from transport irons. They'll . . . well, I'll let you see for yourself. If, after seeing everything, you change your mind don't be afraid to let us know. Some people just can't do it. We'll work something else out . . . oh, by the way. I got that rec. from Mr. Griffin. Rather glowing. In fact I don't feel I'm exaggerating to say incandescent."

"Well, . . . that's nice." Heero remarked rather doubtfully. He wasn't sure exactly how much weight something like that would carry with a parole board that would find out that he'd been hiding in the system rather than being where he was supposed to be. "But never mind. When do you want me to go to the jail, Sir?"

"You'll go directly from here. I understand that you've been on line schooling. How will this affect that?"

Heero thought, blinking slowly. "Humm . . . since I'm not taking care of the cows . . . I'll do my class work then. If the work is strenuous enough, I'll cut down on my exercises. . . . if I find out that I can't keep up. . . . I can . . . I hate to drop a class, but I could drop metallurgy, or maybe, . . . um m m. I hate to drop Poly Sci. I could drop haiku, I guess. But I'm only taking eighteen hours so I should be able to manage. If not, I'll talk to you before I make a decision."

Mr. Compton rubbed his neck only eighteen hours? he'd been watching Heero more closely since his little adventure with the bulldozer, the fire had set up red flags, but that had capped the climax. This boy was more than he purported to be, but if he was what they thought he was, things didn't add up. He was way too polite, for one. But no one wanted to ask questions they didn't want answers to.

"Very well. I don't want you to sacrifice your education. You're way too intelligent to wind up on an assembly line somewhere. We'll try very hard to get your record expunged when you leave here. There's a lot of different things you could do with your skills and I hate to see you wasted. If there's anything else?"

Mr. Anderson came in to get Heero and smiled. "Come on . . . let's go."

Heero got up and headed for the door, stopping by Mr. Anderson and putting his wrists out to handcuffed.

"Naw. You're a trustee now and we don't cuff trustees. Come on, quit fooling around and let's get this over with. I'll miss my afternoon tea."

Heero sighed. He missed the strangest things. One of them was afternoon tea with Quatre and Wufei.

"What?"

"I miss tea. Two of my friends . . . we'd sit down in the afternoon and have tea."

"That's too bad. Maybe we can do something about that. . . . well, come on. We'll run down to the jail and get you fitted. If you feel you can't do this. You let the Gang Boss know. I don't want you freaking out on me. Ok?"

Heero nodded "Yes, Sir. I'll be ok. But couldn't we drive down. I don't feel like running all that way." Heero eyed Mr. Anderson through his bangs. He wasn't sure how he would take the joke.

"Running. We. . . ." Mr. Anderson snickered and swatted Heero on the arm gently. "You just kill me."

Heero froze for a second then laughed too.

They got into a car and Mr. Anderson fussed at Heero for not fastening his seat belt right away. Heero rolled his eyes in an exaggerated way which got him a scolding.

At the jail Mr. Anderson turned Heero over to an older prisoner and told him to do as he was told, then went off to see someone he knew about something. Heero looked the other man over and decided he wasn't a threat.

"Come on. Boy, don't just stand there glaring at me. If you don't want to be in the program just say so there are boys' who'd nearly kill to be here."

Heero started after the man and was lead to a machine shop where Mr. Gary introduced him to Fitz, the machinist. Fitz stuck out his hand and shook with Heero.

"Ok, Boy, put your foot up on the block. I want to make sure the cuff fits right. Never blistered anyone yet. And don't intend to start now. You get a hot spot, I want to know about it. You understand me?"

Heero considered for a moment then shook his head. "Not really. A hot spot? Where?"

"On your ankle, Boy. These leg irons are working irons not those transport chains you're used to. Here, let me show you."

Fitz reached over and retrieved a heavy steel loop from the table beside him.

Heero took it from him and examined it. It was fairly thick at nearly a quarter inch and almost half an inch wide. He weighed it in his hand and realized that it was made of mild steel.

"Heavy. So?" Heero handed it back.

Fitz took it and tossed it negligently back on the table. "Well, let me measure you and fit you. Then we'll see."

Heero put his foot on a block of wood and Fitz just closed his fingers around his ankle. At his motion, Heero changed feet and let him finger the other ankle.

"You ever sprain that ankle, Boy?"

"Yes, several times, Sir."

"Don't sir me. I'm no Boss, just a con like you. You ought to get that worked on or it'll be weak later in life."

Heero nodded, he was well aware that it was weaker than the other one. "I'm hoping to get a friend to pay for getting it regened. I'll pay him back when I get a job. Now what?"

"You sit down there and drink coffee. I'll work you up a set of work irons and we'll put them on. You walk around a little and see what you think. If you really can't take it, now is the time to say so. Not when you're out in a field somewhere. Got me?"

Heero shrugged. "I don't think I'll freak out or anything. I'm used to . . . stuff. But . . . I've got a longer stride than it looks like I do. You want to measure it?"

"Naw. I watched you walk across the bay. You walk like you're crossing a new plowed field. Real strong." Fitz pointed to the stool and gave Heero a gentle shove. "Sit down before you fall down."

Heero sat, accepted a cup of coffee, and watched as Fitz made a set of the oddest looking leg irons he'd ever seen. The cuffs were lined with leather and had a bar at right angles to the hoop. A leather strap was connected to the top of the bar. The chain was almost long enough to let him take a full stride.

"Ok, Boy, let me see how I've done. If they rub anywhere, you tell me now. Ok?"

"Yes, Sir. I'll let you know." Heero ducked his head apologetically as the man gave him a mock nasty look.

After fastening the cuffs around his ankles the man pressed the bar up the outside of Heero's leg and fastened the leather strap just under his knee. Heero realized that the bar and strap arrangement was to keep the cuff from rotating on his ankle and making blisters. At Fitz's instruction Heero walked around the shop for a while. Nothing seemed to be rubbing, so he sat back down on the stool, hooked a heel on a rung and picked his coffee back up. He'd rather have tea but coffee was better than nothing.

"Well, Boy, how's it feel?"

Heero considered, "Not too bad. I'll be able to work in these just fine. What's next?"

"I'll find out where you're going to go. Then we'll see."

Fitz picked up a phone and, after talking to someone, smiled at Heero. "Well, Boy, you're lucky. I'll call your sponsor. You'll like him. He's a good guy. Likes kids." The man held up a hand "oh I know you're all grown up at what sixteen . . . seventeen? You're still a kid. You should be worrying a bout dates and dances and whether you're gonna get a zit before senior picture day . . . not whether leg irons are going to wear a blister."

Heero thought about it for a second. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I never worried about stuff like that. I worried about whether I was gonna get shot or blown up; or was my friend gonna get it. Or my lover. I guess a blister or two doesn't worry me much. But you don't want to hear an old war dog tell battle tales." Heero, give them hints and let them fill in the blanks. Makes a better story than the gory details

"Son, you scare me. Well, here's your sponsor. Evan, this is Heero Winner-Yuy. Heero, Evan Brown. He'll show you the ropes so to speak."

Mr. Brown demonstrated mowing with a scythe to Heero. He found that mowing with a scythe wasn't that hard once he'd gotten a rhythm established

Step- sweep-pull

Step forward, sweep the scythe out. Pull to cut.

The leg irons didn't bother him much, the chain was long enough to allow him almost a full stride

After he'd mown a swath across the field, Heero went back to Fitz so he could check the fit of the working irons.

"Well, Boy, any hot spots?" Fitz poked at Heero's ankle, checking the fit.

"No, Sir. They don't rub anywhere. Thank you."

"Stop callin' me sir. I'm only a common con, just like you."

Heero smirked at Fritz common con? If you only knew "Sorry. You're older. Naturally I'd call you sir."

Fitz only grunted. He took the irons off Heero and took a tool off the bench. With a few quick strokes he scratched initials on the cuffs. HWY.

Heero eyed the initials for a moment then snickered softly.

"What?"

"My initials . H. W. Y."

"Highway? So?"

"I'm working on a road crew."

Fritz started laughing. "Well, Heero, I'm glad to see that you still have a sense of humor."

Heero grinned. "I'm getting one."

Fitz started to say something else but Evan came up just then with the scythe in his hands.

"Here. You gotta learn how to keep it sharp. Mowing with a dull scythe is a bitch."

Heero took the file and the scythe, then watched as Evan used a file to sharpen another scythe. It was no harder than dressing a knife and used the same principles. Evan was impressed.

After some more fiddling around, Mr. Anderson came to collect him. In the car he filled Heero in on how they were going to work out the process.

Heero would be picked up by the bus at eight, immediately after breakfast. He would be taken to the work site and stay until after lunch. Then he would be brought back so he could work on his classes.

"If anything happens that shouldn't, I want to know about it at once. I'll be coming to get you every day so no hiding stuff. You understand?"

"Yes, Sir." Heero sat looking out the window, it was good weather and he was going to make the most of being outside. He was glad to get out of the facility, even in irons. He didn't have any plans to escape, he was staying where he was. But for some reason he was reassured by the realization that he could break the chain anytime he needed to.

"Heero?"

"Yeah."

"You might want to be a little more careful who you tell what."

"I've been talking to my friends by e-mail. We all agreed that some things need to come out into the open, no matter what. I'll be eighteen soon. You'll be transferring me out shortly after that. Right?"

"Not necessarily." Mr. Anderson regretted having this conversation while he was driving. Heero was hard to read, but if you watched carefully he gave clues to what he was thinking. "Depends on your attitude and record. With as short a real sentence as you've got and your behavior. You could stay here until you're twenty. Especially as you're in intensive therapy. The Board of Corrections discourages interrupting patient doctor parings that are especially successful."

Heero studied Mr. Anderson for a moment. "I like Mr. Terry. He doesn't patronize me. I've done a lot of things I'm not particularly proud of, but I was a good soldier. I followed orders. I still don't understand how it was all right for them to order me to do things, but it wasn't all right for me to do them."

"Kid, if you try to understand the hypocrisy of politics you'll drive yourself nuts for sure."

Heero just grunted and settled back for the rest of the drive.

The next morning Heero got up a little early, followed his routine up to breakfast then went to stand by the gate and wait for the bus. Strange as it seems he was allowed to wait alone; then, when the bus came, the first thing the guard did was put the leg irons on him.

"Sorry, Kid, I know you're a trustee here but the regs say irons." The guard checked the straps and locks then helped Heero step up into the bus. "Sit by Evan. Stay with him. If you get too far away from the group we'll have to come and get you."

Heero gave the guard an offended glare. "I won't escape. I'd lose more than I'd gain. You. . . "

Heero trailed off at the man's upraised palm. "I know that, but it makes the civilians nervous. That uniform really stands out."

The other reason Heero was offended was he was wearing a dark grey BDU uniform with big black P's on the back of the shirt and the thighs of the pants. He might as well be wearing a neon sign.

Heero just nodded. "Ok Sir. I'm sorry. I think I'm a little nervous. If I make a mistake please tell me quickly. I'll . . . "

The guard patted Heero into his seat and told Evan to talk to him.

Evan turned to Heero and just asked him what the problem was.

"I think I'm . . . worried. I'm not scared, I don't think. But what if I make a mistake? How will they punish me? Will . . . I" Heero trailed off. He didn't take failure well. The consequences were usualy painful, Doctor J had seen to that. Later, during the war failure usualy meant someone died.

"Boy, I don't know what went on wherever you were before here, but if you make a mistake here they'll explain. You make the same mistake twice, they may yell. In fact, they'll probably be in your face. But that's about all. Relax. Stick close to me. I'm your sponsor. It's my responsibility to see that you don't make mistakes. Listen and learn. Then we'll both be happy."

"I see. Thank you, Sir. I'm good at following orders if they are clear."

Evan gave Heero an amused look. "Quite the little soldier, aren't you?"

Heero smirked back "I've been told I'm perfect, sir." Heero settled back to sleep until they got to the work site, his old training kicking in.

Evan nudged Heero with his elbow, "Wake up, boy. Time to go to work."

Heero started awake. When he started to stand up, he got tangled in the chain and nearly fell. He could have saved himself but that would have meant breaking the chain. He was startled when both Evan and the guard grabbed him before he hit the floor.

"Thank you both. I'm not usually this clumsy." Heero ducked his head waiting for the dressing down he deserved.

"Well? . . . Don't just stand there, get moving. Day light's a wastin' " The guard gave Heero a gentle shove.

Heero got in line and found that with Evan behind him he felt better about turning his back on a bunch of unknown men.

One of the three guards on the bus stood at the door and made sure no one tripped stepping down from the bus. The other two issued tools and organized the job.

Heero was given a scythe and told to follow Evan. They made a quick survey of the job they had been given, which was to mow a long strip beside the road. The strip went from one exit on the highway to another, about a half mile altogether.

Heero watched as Evan organized the men into a conga line. He was to take the point position. Evan told him that it was the easiest position because he didn't have to worry about getting his irons tangled in newly mown weeds. Evan came next and after him three more men. The five of them could mow the whole strip in one trip. The other men would pick up trash, weed the flower beds and do general clean up.

Heero stopped to wipe the sweat off his forehead, squinting at the glare coming off the highway. He wished vaguely for a hat. When he stopped, the rest of the men stopped. He turned to look at the others and they were just standing waiting.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be holding up the line like this but . . . "

Evan gave Heero a funny look. "We usually put the weakest of us on point so they don't wear themselves out trying to keep up with us. You've run us all into the ground. You've got the endurance of a horse. We'll stop for a little while, get some water . . . and I think we all need hats."

"I was just thinking the same thing. And sun screen, if there's any. We all should have a drink of water too."

Heero looked around and saw one of the guards riding toward them on a horse. He'd been surprised to see several guards on horse back but it made sense. They didn't tear up the ground like an ATV and could help with the job.

The guard dismounted and opened a saddlebag, taking out several bottles of water he handed them around as well as hats and sunglasses. He also took out a can of spray on sun screen.

"If any of you idiots want to take off your shirts tell me now. You get a major sun burn, I don't want to hear about it. Now . . . line up or leave your shirts on."

Heero, whose shirt was sticking uncomfortably to his shoulders, stripped down to the waist. He got a few looks but these men worked on the theory, 'if he wants me to know he'll tell me' so no one said anything. The guard blinked, sprayed him and turned to the next man, gritting his teeth.

The men put on hats and sunglasses and went back to work. They were about half way done when a van pulled up and several people scrambled out. Heero nearly ducked when one of the men pointed something at him. Evan stepped between him and the camera hissing 'put on your shirt' Heero scrambled into it and grumbled 'This happen a lot?'

The guards on horseback got between the convicts and the news people. The Crew Boss walked over and gathered all the men into a group.

"They want to film us. I called the sheriff and he says it's up to you all. So . . . show of hands. Who all don't care."

Everyone raised their hands. Heero raised his rather hesitantly. This fits in with Quatre's plans, but Duo's gonna have a fit.

"Son, if you don't want to, we can let you stay in the bus. But . . . you could say 'hi' to your Mom or something."

Heero decided. "No, I'll do it, Sir. I just . . . I'm kind of concerned about how my lover is going to take this."

"Most relatives are upset at first, but then they're just glad to see that you're ok. Button your shirt up straight."

Heero rearranged his shirt, then went back to work. The camera man stayed out of the way but seemed to have a 'thing' for Heero, he followed him with the camera almost exclusively. Heero kept to his job and found himself whistling softly. It was an odd song that had hit his fancy somehow.

He started back as something was suddenly thrust into his face. He almost struck out with the scythe and would have hurt the reporter badly except that Evan snapped "Heero" sharply enough that he started instead.

Then Evan turned on the reporter and snarled "Lady, that was stupid. That thing is sharp. He could have cut the hell out of you. You need to speak before you do anything like that."

Heero got his reflexes under control and patted Evan on the arm. "I'm ok now. She just startled me. Not a good thing. But . . . thanks."

"Well, now that that is out of the way. You're very young to be in the county jail. Could you tell me how you wound up incarcerated?"

"Yes, Ma'am. First, I'm not in the jail. I'm on a work program from Fitzroy where I'm a trustee. I wound up incarcerated because I followed orders."

"Excuse me? Orders from whom."

Heero gave the camera a puzzled look. "My control, of course."

"Could you tell me more?"

Heero shrugged then, to the reporters disgust, said. "No, Ma'am. I'm sorry. Most of that information is still classified."

"Well . . . classified. I see. Can I ask you . . . "

Heero smiled. When Heero chose to really smile, it had a particular sweetness that could be heart breaking. The reporter forgot what she was going to ask

"Ma'am? You ok?. . . " Heero took off his hat and offered it to her. "Perhaps you should put on this hat. That sun is really hot. It'll scramble your brains."

"Oh. Ummm . . . thank you." The reporter put on the hat with a slight frown. "You were whistling before. You really don't mind being forced to work wearing chains . . . it's barbaric. I mean . . ."

Heero snickered causing the reporter to interrupt herself. "Something?"

"If you think that they are forcing me or any of these men to work, you're wrong. It's a privilege. The leg irons are only because civilians freak out so easily. We aren't going to run away. Most of these men are short timers. Thirty, sixty, or ninety day sentences. I'm the only one with a sentence over a year. They are very careful to make sure the irons don't cause any pain."

"I see . . . and it's a privilege because . . . why?" The reporter just pointed Heero in the right direction and got out of the way. She couldn't believe the boy was so communicative. He's talking like he's trying to send a message to someone.

"Because it shows that we are trustworthy. It looks good on parole forms. I'm coming up for parole soon."

"I see. You're so very young to be a long timer. You said something about a controller? Where is he? Why are you here instead of him?"

"He's dead. So . . . can you say scape goat?" Heero was getting tired of her already. She was prying into things that he wasn't sure were supposed to come out yet. He decided to stop the interview, not realizing that most reporters were more tenacious than a pit bull.

"Excuse me. I need to get back to work. I'm holding up the whole crew. " Heero stepped out to start mowing again. The reporter nearly lost a foot as she got in his way again. "Lady. You really have a death wish. This scythe could cut you in half. That's one of the reasons it's considered a privilege to work on a road crew. We're basically given weapons."

"Oh. Ummm I'm sorry. But just one more question, then I promise I'll let you get back to work. You were whistling. You're very good, but I don't recognize the song."

Heero smirked at the reporter. "Oh, it's something my lover put on my MP3 player. I'd like to thank him for that by the way." Heero whistled a little more then pulled off his sunglasses, winked at the camera and dropped the other shoe. "The first song is called 'I shot the sheriff' and that one is called 'Unchained Melody' Is it ok for me to say hi to some people?"

"Sure. Are they your family?"

"Only family I've ever had. Chang Wufei, Quatre, Trowa, and especially Duo. I love you all and miss you. Come visit me."

"Well, no 'Hi, Mom . . . or Dad. That's unusua.l"

Heero gazed steadily at the reporter for a second. "I'm sure I had parents, everyone does. But I don't remember them. I need to get back to work. Excuse me."

Heero went back to work, the reporter wound up her segment and everything went back to what passed for normal.

Quatre got the raw footage and helped with the cut. He made sure that what he wanted to emphasize was nearly shoved into the public's faces.

When he got back home, he made sure that none of the others saw the lead-ins. When they settled down to watch the news, he knew he'd succeeded in his plans.

Duo settled on the couch next to Trowa and pouted. He usualy didn't watch the news, all he watched was the lead-ins; then he read the paper. He said the tv news was biased but the paper had the facts.

"Don't pout, Duo. You'll like this last segment, I promise."

"Ok, Q. I'll like it." Duo sighed, the last segment Quatre had said he'd like was about whales. What he'd like about a marine mammal he wasn't sure. So he was reserving judgment.

He spent the next five minutes just gaping at the tv with his mouth open. Heero, talking and everything. Oh my When Heero's whiskering was played over a short still of him smiling so sweetly Duo broke down in tears. But he had to laugh too.

"Oh, my god. I shot the sheriff? Really."

Yay me. More done. The next chapter is the one you're all waiting for. Heero and Duo get together.

Thanks to:ZaKai (when they get together there will be fireworks.), Lord of the Pit (Not done with them yet),


	10. Community Service

The price: community service.

Wufei had dreaded this day for a week. He'd promised Duo that he would go with him to serve ten hours of his forty-hour community service sentence. So they were going to help plant a park.

Quatre and Trowa had escaped this fate by having a meeting with the Board of the bank Quatre was trying to get a loan from. They seemed to want to see how many hoops Quatre would jump through before they gave him the loan. Quatre was just about disgusted with them. He was looking into alternative financing. Hard. But he'd promised Trowa one more meeting. So they were going to the bank, on a Saturday morning.

Duo grumbled, he and morning weren't friends this morning. He'd stayed awake too late last night doing a paper for his Poly Sci. class. It wasn't due until next week but he'd finished it last night and mailed it early. So now he didn't want to get up.

Wufei didn't dump Duo this morning, he resorted to something much more subtle. He bribed Duo with coffee and a Danish, in bed. He had watched Duo work on his paper with a single-minded intensity that he found admirable, so he fanned the smell of coffee over his face and watched his nose twitch like a rabbit's.

"Mmmm, 'Fei? Oh . . . coffee? Will you bear my children?" Duo took the cup and plate, scrooched up in the bed and downed the scalding coffee in two gulps.

"Maxwell, you'll scald yourself."

"Naw, cast iron mouth. Thanks Wufei, really."

Wufei eyed Duo for a moment, he didn't show any signs of going back to sleep, so he headed for the door, throwing the command to 'Get up now!' over his shoulder.

Duo wolfed the Danish and made it through the shower in twenty minutes, braiding his hair wet, he made it to the kitchen in time for eggs and toast. Which he stuffed into his mouth on his way to the door

"Maxwell, slow down you'll choke."

"Can't . . . we'll be late and I don't want to start out on the wrong foot. Won't look good. Come on, hurry up."

Wufei felt slightly offended, after all it wasn't his fault they were running late.

Duo made an apologetic face. "Sorry, Chang-dono. I know it's my fault but come on."

Wufei shook his head, "Duo. I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't mix Chinese and ancient Japanese. It's . . . not . . . it's just too odd for me. Now come on."

They got into the car and the driver assured them that they wouldn't be late. The park was just off a major street and had easy access.

Mr. Compton grumbled sourly. This day was going from bad to worse quickly. There was some trouble over in Group A, his request for papers was still bouncing around the system and the boy who was supposed to go help in the park had broken his arm.

"Heero, I know you are . . . shy. But I really need a favor from you. Gary broke his arm falling out of his bunk. He was supposed to go work in the new park in the city. I'd like to send you, but I know you are not comfortable about some things. How do you feel about this?"

Heero considered, "How many of us are going and who will go with us?"

Mr. Compton sighed, "coffee?" Heero accepted the coffee with a smile and a nod of thanks. "Four of you. Two from here and two from the jail. Mr. Anderson and a guard from the jail . . . I don't have his name. It'll be one of the sheriff's deputies. Your sponsor is one of the inmates from the jail. Will you go?"

Heero considered, he wasn't too fond of the idea of being around a crowd of strangers but they were all civilians. Being in chains didn't bother him, he knew he could break them anytime he needed to, so that wasn't a problem. He knew two of the five others, maybe three. Mr. Anderson and Evan Brown were 'cool,' the other boy from here had to be one of three, all of whom he knew slightly. The jail inmate and guard were problematical but two unknowns out of five wasn't bad and they had to fit into certain parameters, otherwise they wouldn't be in the program.

"I'll go. The risks are minimal. And . . . " Heero stopped dead. Mr. Compton didn't need a mission diagnosis. He smiled "I'll be fine."

Mr. Compton had watched the expressions flitting over Heero's face and realized that he was analyzing the situation carefully. what goes on in that boy's head?

"Thank you. . . . Heero?" Heero raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "If anything goes wrong, anything; do what you think you ought. We'll deal with the consequences. You understand me?"

"Yes, sir." Neither understood the other at all.

Heero went directly from the Headmasters Office to the van. He greeted Mr. Anderson and Evan then couldn't help a wide smile, the guard from the jail was the Sheriff himself. He greeted Sheriff Haskins with relief, and he knew the jail inmate by sight.

Haskins grunted, dug around under the seat and pulled out Heero's irons. "Gimme your . . . " Heero had already climbed into the van and put his ankles on the door sill. "How long you been on a gang?"

Heero shrugged "A while. You don't watch tv much do you?"

"Been out of state at a convention. You on tv?"

Heero settled in and let the Sheriff fasten his seatbelt. "Yeah, WWEI did a segment on chain gangs, they seemed to like me for some reason I couldn't tell you."

The other prisoner was a jokester or thought he was. "That's because you're just soooo pretty. Very . . . um . . . sorry, sorry." Heero's glare shut him up with a gulp.

Haskins just told them all to shut up and handed around breakfast.

Heero ate the muffin, egg and bacon thing and drank the too sweet orange-flavored beverage Glad they don't have the nerve to call it orange drink. and wished for another cup of coffee.

When he was done with his meal he went back to sleep without thinking about it. It had been necessary during the war. Anytime they'd been in a vehicle that they weren't driving they'd taken the opportunity to bank z's. He didn't realize it when he slumped over, winding up on Evans shoulder.

"Heero, come on boy, wake up. Easy there, it's just me." The Sheriff poked Heero with his nightstick, shaking him awake from a safe distance.

Heero grumbled softly "I'm awake. We there?" then stretched slowly and throughly, like a great cat coming awake.

"Yeah, get yourself awake. Don't forget those irons and fall out of the van." Heero was glad for the warning, he had indeed forgotten the leg irons and would have tripped himself or broken them.

The Joker suddenly got a scared look on his face and stumbled away mumbling 'fuck'. Sheriff Haskins looked after him with a stoney stare.

"You stay away from that one. He's nothing but trouble." Heero pinned the Sheriff with a flat look "he qualified for the program. He's not vicious or anything like that. He's just . . . dumb. Play's pranks and stuff. But mostly they turn out . . . bad.

"He was a Quisling during the war and is in jail for fraud under $500, ninety days and he's made every one of them, so far, miserable with his stupid jokes and pranks. Just . . . watch him. I don't want you killing him by mistake."

Heero nodded. He was used to practical jokes thanks to Duo, but his jokes were carefully engineered not to start something with a bunch of hyper strung soldiers. This idiot could get himself killed. The wars had only been over for little more than a year and there were still lots of men and women out there with reactions that didn't sit well with jokes.

They were all called to order by a policeman, who consulted with the Sheriff and Mr. Anderson then addressed them, thanking them for coming and telling them that no one was allowed to bother them in anyway. They were allowed to talk to anyone they wanted to but they should stay together and be sure that they were within sight of either the Sheriff or Mr. Anderson at all times. Then he handed out the chores. Heero and Evan were sent to mow off an area that was shoulder high with weeds. It was large for hand mowing but it contained several very nice, large lilac bushes and some antique roses which made it impossible to machine mow.

"Ok, Heero, let's go. It's going to take us most of the morning to do this. You good?"

Heero grunted at Evan who snickered softly. They went to get their scythes and the Joker had to make some kind of stupid remark. "You look like the God of Death with that thing. Only you're too young. " He though it was hilarious the way he laughed but the whites of his eyes suddenly showed as Heero took a swig with the scythe and smiled coldly.

"You've mixed me up with my lover. Watch yourself. You're liable to piss me off. You don't want to do that. I'd suggest you settle down and act your age instead of your IQ."

Heero turned his back on the suddenly shaking man and went to work on the weed-filled plot. Evan watched him for a few moments wondering what Parker knew that the rest of them didn't. He shrugged off his misgivings and followed Heero into the weedy mess taking up his place behind and beside Heero.

Duo and Wufei found the counselor they were to stay with. Duo gave the woman a sullen look, Wufei poked him and hissed. "It's not her fault. You mess this up and you're liable to have to spend the rest of the sentence in a cell. Make nice."

Mrs. Campbell heard Wufei and sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. She'd tried to get the judge to reverse his sentence but he'd said that the "boy needs to learn impulse control."

"Mr. Maxwell, I don't want to start out on the wrong foot. I know you didn't mean any harm. You didn't even leave the lot with the mobile suit. Mr. Winner dropped all the charges so this is just an exercise in stubbornness on the part of Judge Randolph. I'm putting you and your friend . . . what are your . . . I can't find papers on . . . what's your name?"

Wufei just bowed slightly, "Chang Wufei. I came with Duo, just for moral support. I'm volunteering, not . . . er . . . I'm just here."

"OH, that's very kind of you. It's going to be a long hard day. I'm putting you both on the same crew. I'm glad I don't have to try to keep you separated. That's always a nuisance. What would you like to do? You can plant bedding plants, or . . . um . . . no, they've got the convict boys mowing that lot. Then there's a lot of mulch and rock to unload. They've got the other two convicts doing that. But . . . oh, plant bedding plants . . . you can't mess that up too bad. Come on."

Duo watched the woman and realized that she was just disorganized enough that they were going to be in real trouble soon. He gently took the clip board from her and handed it to Chang. "Here, figure out this mess. I'll see if I can't find the lady some coffee and I'll be right back."

Wufei watched as Duo applied his not inconsiderable personal charm to soothing the woman and getting things a great deal more organized. He quickly made notes on what still had to be organized and realized that most of the organization had been done by someone else.

He got a group of older ladies started on bedding plants and another group of men following right after to mulch and water the new plantings. Then he realized that he'd done the woman's job so quickly that, instead of the usual wandering for an hour, they were well started and it was only 9 a.m.

Duo wandered up with coffee for them both and took the clip board. "Mmmmm. We'll have to see about lunch pretty soon. Where did Campbell go?"

Wufei made a sour face. "Don't have a clue. Find out if there are some arrangements for lunch. There aren't any notes. Damn, I wish Quatre was here. He's better at this than I am."

Duo put an arm around Wufei's shoulders and gave him a quick friendly hug. "You're doing fine. All you have to do is organize stuff that's already provided. I'll find Campbell and ask her if there's any plans for food and get back to you."

Wufei went to the pavilion and sat down at a small table where he started reading all the notes. They were neat and legible, obviously not Mrs. Campbell's. Her writing was scrawling and wandered up and down hill. Her annotations to the original notes didn't make any sense to Wufei so he ignored them in favor of the neater one's.

Lunch it seemed was a combination affair. Meat provided by a local grocery chain and side dishes carried in by volunteers. This could prove to be messy. Wufei had no idea how to organize such a thing.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for that Campbell woman."

Wufei looked up to find a man in a brown uniform looming over him.

"She's not around. I'm taking over for the . . .ahem. How can I help you?"

"Name's Haskins. I think the word you're looking for is feather head. She's nice enough and well meaning. But not real organized. That's why I'm here, to make sure there are arrangements for my people. Most of the 'nice' people don't want a bunch of chain gangers around them. So I want to make sure that they get fed."

Wufei stood up and shook hands with the man, he recognized him now. "There's a small pavilion just up the way, you can see it from here. I'll make sure that there's food there for. . . how many?"

"Six. But two are teenagers. And all the guys are putting in a long hard day. So I'd appreciate it if you'd see that there is plenty. Two hot dogs apiece won't cut it."

Haskins liked the look of the serious oriental boy. He looked like he knew which end of the pencil was pointed, at least. Wufei was more that willing to help out the Sheriff that had been so nice to Heero.

"I'll be sure that you all get plenty. It might not be as nice as going through the line but there'll certainly be more that a hot dog or two." Wufei made notes in his tidy kanji. "There's a guy with a long braid. Don't make any smart remarks, he's a great deal more dangerous than he looks. He'll bring you your food. He might even get it set up before you get there. If there's any problem, look me up and I'll take care of it."

Haskins wasn't the type to make remarks but he let it drop. The boy was obviously protective of the other. As long as his men got fed properly, he didn't care if a gorilla brought it.

Heero eyed the lot. They were almost finished with it and he was hot and sweaty. He really wanted a drink of water and a few minutes breather.

"Evan, I need a drink and so do you. We're going to get dehydrated if we keep this up. Is there any water?"

Evan looked around and saw the water cooler. He motioned and they both headed for it, intent on getting drinks and standing in the shade for a few minutes. They were stopped half way there by a cop who looked a little aggravated.

"You're supposed to be mowing. Where do you think you're going?"

Heero pinned the man with a look that made him reconsider listening to that quisling. "We _think_ we're going to get a drink and rest out of the sun for a few minutes. You got a problem?" Heero waited for a heart beat. "Didn't think so."

Evan sighed. "Boy, I don't think I've ever seen a guy like you. I hope you never point that look at me. Here." Evan handed Heero a cup of water and took another one for himself. The sheriff came up to see what they were doing and called the other two men in to get a drink too.

"We're going to get lunch at that little pavilion. The organizer, if you can call her that, has turned her duties over to some young Chinese guy. Thank heaven. He says he'll make sure that there's real food there." He looked at his watch. "I'll make sure there's plenty of time to rest after you eat. I don't want anyone getting sick. Take a good rest, then get back to work. Lunch in about three hours. Ok?"

All the men made agreement type sounds and went back to work, taking their time.

The next three hours were spent in finishing their assigned tasks.

No one bothered them or even really payed much attention. There were a few odd looks when someone realized that they were in leg irons. But other than that they were left to their own devices.

Duo turned when he heard Wufei swear. Wufei was looking at his phone and muttering something that Duo recognized as Mandarin and not nice.

"What? . . . Fei. What is it now?" Duo was slightly tired of cleaning up after Mrs. Campbell's messes. She was the most disorganized organizer he'd ever seen. Between them they and spent the last two hours making sure that things didn't fall apart before they even got started.

"There are no arrangements for anyone to pickup the meat. The donator just called wanting to know when it would be picked up. I'll try to find someone with a car that will agree to go."

Duo rubbed his temple. He was getting a headache from all the running around he'd been doing. The sun was hot and it was humid enough that it felt like breathing through a sponge.

"Tell whoever you find that I'll go with, if they want . . . to help load and unload. Wufei, . . ." Wufei turned at his soft voice. "Thanks. You have no idea what . . . everything means to me. Really. Just . . . " Duo sighed and looked into the near distance.

"It's ok. I . . . owe you both. We . . . depend on each other. You've given me . . . we . . . " Wufei just followed Duo's line of sight.

They both went back to work, changing the subject to one more comfortable to both of them.

"Excuse me. I'm here to get someone to help me with the meat. I got a text on my phone."

Wufei and Duo turned to see a middle sized man standing just under the pavilion. He was smiling slightly at them and they both smiled back

"Hey . . . My name's Duo, this is Wufei. Mrs. Campbell seems to have . . . er . . . wandered off somewhere. We're just sort of stuck with this. Wufei is organizing and I'm goffering. If you'll drive me to where ever it is, I'll do the grunt work. Ok?"

"Yes that'll be fine. My name's Randolph. Pleased to meet you."

They shook hands all around and Duo followed the man to his car.

On the way to the grocery store, Mr Randolph struck up a conversation with Duo, first asking him why he was doing Mrs Campbell's job.

When he asked, Duo made a rude noise. "That woman is the most disorganized adult it's ever been my misfortune to deal with. She couldn't manage a setting hen and a clutch of eggs."

"She's very nice. And dedicated."

"I didn't say she wasn't. That doesn't mean she's qualified to do the job she's supposed to be doing."

"I see. You're a little judgmental. But I suppose that's your age showing. Although I shouldn't say anything."

Duo turned and watched the man's profile for a few moments. "I learned to judge people quickly at an early age. Survival."

"I see." The man risked a quick glance at Duo

"Doubt it. I may look young, but I'm older than dirt." Duo looked out the window and wished they'd get to the store.

"You're . . . what . . . seventeen? That's very young."

"I'm old in experience. I grew up in the streets of L2. It ages you real quick." Duo sighed, his look out the window had let him see the construction mobile that had started all this.

"Don't even think it. That thing is dangerous. I just sentenced a boy about your age to forty hours community service for operating heavy machinery without certification for fooling around with that very machine."

Duo choked on the soda he was swallowing. This guy was the judge.

"Hey! You ok?"

Duo coughed up the soda and nodded, saying in a choked voice. "Yeah, I'm ok. But, how do you know he wasn't qualified?"

"He's too young. "

Duo prayed he wasn't messing up Quatre's plans, but this was too good a chance to pass up.

"I'm not too young. I started training to operate mobiles when I was twelve. I'm one of the Gundam pilots."

"Now, young man, don't try to pull the wool over my eyes. The youngest pilot is that Winner boy. Then Chang. The other three are in their twenties."

"Excuse me? How the hell do you know that?"

"It was extrapolated from their probable age at Operation Meteor. They had to be at least twenty. Then . . ."

Duo crushed his soda can in one fist.

"I'm seventeen. I'm Duo Maxwell. Trowa Barton may be eighteen. We were all fifteen when Meteor started. I don't know where you got your Intel but you should check your figures." Duo settled back in his seat muttering direly.

"But . . . that's . . . barbaric."

"Yeah, war's that way. You want barbaric? That's trying to send a seventeen-year-old who only followed orders to Hellcreek. That's barbaric."

Duo shut up before he said more than he should and hoped that he hadn't said too much.

Judge Randolph did some heavy thinking on the rest of the drive.

When they arrived at the store Duo just hopped out and headed into the store. He found the manager and found out that they needed to go around to the back loading dock.

Judge Randolph drove around to the back and got out to help load and found Duo in a smiling conference with the manager.

"Yeah, that's great. You send all the overages to the food bank? Look, you send in some paper work to WEI marked 'Attention: Duo Maxwell' and I'll see if I can't get you some help with the delivery."

Duo stepped down into the well and reached up for the first box. An older man twice Duo's size just laughed."Here let me help. I know you're capable but it's easier on me cause I'm taller."

The transfer was accomplished with no additional trouble or conversation and they made it back to the park driving in slightly strained silence.

Duo unloaded the hot dogs and turned them over to the cooks. It turned out that the judge was one and was organizing the food prep. Duo left him to it, confident that he wasn't going to have any more trouble in that department.

Heero started to sit down at the table. The spread was nice. Someone had made sure that they had potato salad, cole slaw, mac and cheese, several desserts and hot dogs. As he loaded his plate, he glanced down the rise toward the other pavilion. He nearly dropped his plate. He looked closer, there was no denying that long, gold shot, chestnut braid.

"Oh, my god." Heero put down his plate with shaking hands and grabbed Mr. Anderson by the arm. "Please, Mr. Anderson. That's Duo. I need . . . please, you said we could sit where we wanted to. I . . ." Heero realized that he wasn't making any sense at all and tried to calm himself.

Mr. Anderson firmly pried Heero's bruising fingers from around his arm and patted him on the shoulder.

"You can go sit with your friend. But the irons stay on. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I couldn't care less. As long as I get to see Duo you could put me in a straight jacket. I'm . . . probably not making any sense at all am I."

Mr. Anderson just smiled at Heero. He looked like he was about to explode.

"Go. I'll bring your plate."

Heero took off with Mr. Anderson right behind him. On the way, he managed to get himself under some kind of control.

He walked up behind Duo and realized that Wufei was sitting right beside him.

"Is it all right if I sit here?"

Duo froze, he couldn't be hearing what he thought he was.

"Wufei, I've finally gone round the bend. I just heard Heero."

Heero just plucked Duo off the bench, enveloped him in a rib crushing hug, and held on. Wufei flinched, then grabbed them both. Bystander's were treated to the sight of three boys in a hughuddle with a large man in uniform standing by with a plate in his hand and a giant grin on his face.

"Ok, you three . . . come up for air. Here. Heero, sit down on the bench and you two . . . just make sure he eats. Ok?"

While Mr. Anderson had been speaking, Duo was kissing whatever part of Heero's face he could get to. Heero had been kissing right back, while Wufei just held on to them both.

Wufei managed to get them to sit down on the bench. Duo clung to Heero like he was afraid he would disappear, Wufei combated the urge to do the same.

"Heero, what the hell are you doing here? You didn't escape. I saw that man, who's he. Is he nice? Are you ok? Do you want anything? I'll get you some more soda."

Heero maneuvered his legs under the table quickly. He didn't want Duo to see the leg irons just yet. Wufei reached over and gently put his hand over Duo's mouth. Heero nearly smacked him. It didn't make any difference to him that Duo was babbling, he was just glad to hear his voice.

"Don't. Let him talk."

Wufei just smiled and let Duo babble. He was nearly delirious. Wufei realized that he couldn't stop smiling himself.

Heero had gathered Duo against his chest and was holding him with one hand. Wufei leaned into him from the other side. Heero was in heaven. All it needed was the other two men to complete his joy.

"Duo, shush. Where's Quatre and Trowa. I'd like to see them too. Before I have to go back to work."

Duo quite talking, glanced at Wufei and then put his head on Heero's shoulder.

Wufei took up the question. "Quatre is still trying to get a loan from that local bank. He and Trowa are meeting with the board one last time. If they can't get the loan, I think Quatre is going to take the whole project somewhere more cooperative. I'm sorry. Quatre will be so sorry to miss you, and Trowa too.. . . " Wufei managed to pry Duo off Heero, with some resistance on Heero's part. "You better eat. If you have to go back to work, you'll need the food." Heero made a face "Heero, we're not going anywhere. Now that we know you're here, we'll see if we can't work on the same project. At least we'll be together." Wufei pushed Duo's plate in front of him. "Both of you, eat."

Duo managed to eat left handed as neither of them wanted to let go of the other's hand. Wufei found that he couldn't bear to lose contact with Heero either, so Heero was hampered on both sides. Duo holding his left hand and Wufei pressed up to his right side, but he didn't complain.

Judge Randolph came around to see if Duo had gotten the small pavilion set up, and was startled to see Duo hanging all over one of the chain gang prisoners.

"Hello? Duo, who's this?"

Duo got himself together and gave Wufei a significant look.

Wufei stood, bowed to the judge and introduced himself, then Heero.

Judge Randolph blinked. Heero looked every one of his seventeen years. The time he'd spent in therapy at Fitzroy showed to advantage now.

"Hello, how are you, Sir. Pleased to meet you."

Duo had to clamp a hand over his mouth. Only six months ago Heero would have greeted the man with a scowl and a grunt. Now he looked and acted like a 'normal' seventeen year old. show them what they expect to see. It's a lot better for you.

Judge Randolph shook hands with Heero and felt a cold chill run over him. This boy was the Heero Yuy. Right there in front of him.

Duo suddenly groaned. "Busted. Oh, man. Heero . . . I'm sorry."

"I"m not. It's time to quite hiding. Relena's plans didn't work. Now we go with Quat's idea." Heero hugged Duo. "To do that, I'm back on the hot seat. It's ok."

"It's ok? What's ok? I don't understand." The judge looked from one boy to the other, Wufei took it upon himself to explain

"Now that you know who Heero really is, . . . he's . . . er . . . found. They'll send him to Hellcreek now. He's been at Fitzroy."

"He'll stay there until I get this mess figured out. I'm going to write a court order mandating he stay where he is until further notice. That'll hold them off until we . . . I mean by that, the court system can figure out the right thing. For Heero."

Duo nearly threw himself onto the judge's chest, Heero managed to restrain him, which kept him from doing the same thing. Wufei sighed his relief.

"You boys' don't worry about a thing. I'll have that order written and registered in five minutes. It's actually a form. Enjoy the rest of your day . . . " the judge started to turn away, but the rattling of Heero's chain attracted his attention. "What the hell is that?"

Heero set the hook. "What? Oh. Leg irons, Sir. We're all chained . . . so we . . . I'm not really sure why . . . it's ok. They don't hurt or anything." Heero ducked his head so the judge wouldn't see him smirk.

Duo took exception for a second, until Heero managed to pinch him. Wufei had caught a good look at Heero's face when he turned his head, so he kept silent too.

"They . . . don't . . . I'm making some calls. A lot of calls. You're only seventeen and this is . . . it's. . " The judge stopped sputtering and walked away.

Duo mock swooned. "Oh, my god, Heero made a funny. I'm . . . ack."

Heero caught Duo and shut him up by ruthlessly kissing him breathless. Wufei looked on in amused delight. He realized that they were putting on quite a show for everyone around, but when he glanced at the bystanders, most of them were either ignoring the goings on or looking on with interest. When he glared at a few they all turned around and minded their own business.

Duo pushed Heero away and squatted to examine the irons. When he saw the bar up the side of Heero's leg, he poked it, then ran his fingers over the strap fastened under Heero's knee.

"Humm. Not bad. Mild steel?" Duo looked up at Heero with a grin. "Like that strap arrangement. Get blisters?"

Heero pulled Duo up and twined fingers with him. "No. Come on. We're done eating so I better get back to work. Come with me. I'll see if Mr. Anderson will let you work with us. I'm sure he will. He's very nice actually." At Wufei's inquiring look he explained. "He's the man with the plate. He let me come to see you."

When they got to the chain gang, Sheriff Haskins was just getting ready to come looking for Heero. Heero introduced Wufei and Duo, then asked if they could work with him. The sheriff eyed them for a second, then just nodded, "Sure. Why not. You boys think you can keep up?"

Heero snickered at the sheriff and handed Duo a scythe. "You know how to use that, don't you?"

Duo took an experimental swing then nodded. "Yeah. Glad to be using it on plants though."

Wufei volunteered to run water for the men, giving them much needed liquid without having to walk to the cooler for it.

Evan watched Duo work for a minute and smiled. Heero followed him, and Evan followed them; the mowing was done in less than twenty minutes. The two worked in tandem like they'd done it all their lives. It's good to be back in harness with him, we make such a good team.

After they finished mowing, Duo suggested that he take Heero and Evan to help him clean up after the lunch. While many of the people there were conscientious about their paper, others weren't so considerate; so there was quite a bit of litter.

Heero efficiently rounded up the litter bags and pick sticks; Evan, Wufei and Duo took them and they split up. Duo watched as Heero walked off with a peculiar shuffling gait, forced on him by the leg irons. He sighed and started on his apportioned section of the park. It took him several minutes to fill the carry sack, while he was emptying it he took a minute to watch Heero moving. He was worried about those leg irons, he didn't want Heero hurting even if he was permitting it.

Heero felt eyes on him and looked up to see Duo standing by a dumpster watching him. He waved slightly and nodded. Duo smiled at him, finished emptying his carry sack and went back to work. He wanted to be with Duo, but he had responsibilities, so he went back to work stuffing papers and other refuse into the sack.

Mr. Anderson found Heero nearly to the other end of the park. He'd gone in search of him when he realized that he couldn't see him.

"You ok? "

Heero smiled at Mr. Anderson, he hadn't intended to get this far from the other members of the work crew, but Duo had handed out the assignments without worrying about anything except getting the job done.

"Yeah, I"m fine. Where's Evan? He was assigned the plot behind me."

"Evan's done with his section. Some kids helped him out. I'm just checking up to see if you're ok. You need anything? That Chang kid, he's been watching you. You ok with him?"

Heero continued to work as they talked. "I'm fine with Wufei. He is one of my best friends. Along with Trowa and Quatre. We served together."

Mr. Anderson sighed. "Yeah, I know about that now. We got a problem. You're not supposed to be at Fitzroy. Lucky for you a court order came through. But you're . . . I'm damned if I can get it through my head your Oh One. Wow. And those . . . friends of yours?"

Heero poked a piece of rubbish with the pick stick and put it in the bag.

"My friends are all pilots too. One . . . here. Put this in the recycling bin, will you?"

Mr. Anderson took the can and walked over to the big, concrete inclosed bin. As he tossed the can into the bin, he heard a pop. Then another. Then Heero hit him square in the back, swearing softly.

"Damn. Where's the shooter? I . . . .fuck. . . there. . .there he is."

Heero peeked around the bin again and realized the shots were coming from a nearby bank. There were three men standing in the door, obviously guarding it; one security man was down on the sidewalk, the other was running for cover.

Mr. Anderson ran out with his gun in his hand and tried to give some cover fire but he was a prison guard and didn't really know what he was doing. So, instead of covering the security guard, all he did was get himself shot. In the leg but still, he was shot and down in the open.

Heero reached down and simply twisted the link from the chain to the anklet, opening it. Then he did the same to the other side. He stuffed the chain in his pocket and scrambled out to haul Mr. Anderson behind the bin.

"Stupid. What did you think you were doing? Give me that."

Heero took Mr. Anderson's pistol. "I'm not escaping but I'm not going to hide here and let this happen." Heero looked at Mr. Anderson's leg then yelled "Medic! Medic! Man down here."

An EMT skidded up to them and started checking Heero over. He pushed him off grunting, "Him. I'm just smeared with his."

Suddenly Heero snarled as he was grabbed from behind.

"Ro. You shot? Where? What's goin' on here. Where . . ."

Heero rolled over under Duo's hand and gave him the low down quickly. Ending. "We got to find out what's going on. Who's in that bank and why."

"Bank? Why . . . holy fucking hell in a basket. Quatre and Trowa are in that bank. Fuck."

Heero growled. Duo swore some more.

Mr. Anderson tried to get Heero to give him back his gun, and was told. "This is what I trained for all my life. Two of my friends are in that bank and I'm not leaving until I know that they are safe, or someone shoots me. You're wounded, so you're out of the equation. I'm not escaping, I said. But I'm not hanging around while a bunch of cops screw this up."

Duo grumbled then just lifted the medic's radio, retuned it, and listened to the exchange over the police band.

"Ok 'Ro. Dozen perps tried to rob the bank but it's Saturday and there's not more than twenty thou in the till. So they took the board room. They're making demands. You know that no department worth its pay is going to do more that put them off while they get SWAT in."

Duo listened intently, watching as Mr. Anderson was taken to an ambulance. He'd had to argue for all of a second with the medic. His icy glare, combined with Heero's even icier one, had convinced the man to just give up, get his patient into the ambulance, and go away.

Heero put his head against Duo's, pressing his ear to the outside of the ear piece so he could hear too.

The dispatcher was calm, but you could tell that something was wrong, there was a special intensity in her voice. Duo groaned. Heero just got up and headed for the large pavilion.

"Heero what are you gonna do. You. . . we. . . they won't."

Heero turned, slid his hand into the hair at the back of Duo's neck, and kissed him. "We are going to go and offer our help. We're their only hope. If they don't accept, we'll do it anyway. Wufei can coordinate." At Duo's skeptical look he growled. "It's the right thing to do. Even if it does blow the last of our cover. I'm busted but good so 'blaze of glory' and all that."

Duo gave Heero a horrified look.

"What."

"Blaze of glory implies that you intend to die. You better not. You get yourself killed and I'll come after you."

"Yeah I know, they don't call you Shinigami for nothing. I don't intend to die in this. I intend to live a good long time and be a pain in your ass all the while."

" . . . so . . . are we going to do this or stand here chit-chatting all day."

Heero gave Duo a shake and led the way to the pavilion where the Chief of Police had set up a command station.

As they walked up, a cop tried to stop them but, faced with twin glares, he turned to get orders and they just slipped right by him.

Wufei was already there with a displeased scowl on his face. He looked like he wanted to bite or something.

"What's the what."

"No SWAT; that's what."

Duo blinked at Wufei. That look wasn't just for no SWAT. "And . . . .?"

"Trowa and Quatre are in there. That's the bank Quatre was trying to get the loan from. The . . ."

The Chief interrupted them telling them they'd have to go back to their parents and be evacuated with the rest of the civilians. Sheriff Haskins just stood behind him and stifled his snickers with a hand.

Heero raised an eyebrow. Obviously the sheriff knew exactly who they were and was waiting for the blow up.

A Com. Spec. came up and interrupted without apology. "We're screwed. They're on maneuvers. They're clear up at Hempstead. Socked in to boot. Got in touch with Preventers. Commander Une says that we have experts right here. Says to get some guy named Heero Winner-Yuy out of Fitzroy and Quatre Raberba Winner, let them pick their own team and just get out of the way. She sounds really pissed.. . . so Chief, what you wanna do?"

"Find Winner. Ask him what he needs. If Anna Une says jump, I just jump and hope it's high enough."

Duo managed not to laugh by facial contortions that looked nearly spastic. Then he changed subtly but definitely. Heero tensed slightly and went from a calm, polite boy to a hard, capable soldier in the blink of an eye. Wufei smirked slightly and did the same.

Sir, I'm afraid that you're not going to be able to get in touch with Mr. Winner. He's in the bank in question. Board meeting. He's right in the thick of it."

"And who are you?"

Wufei bowed. "Chang Wufei. I'll be coordinating the operation in place of Winner. If you have any doubts as to my credentials call Une. Tell her 03 and 04 are hostages; 01, 02, and 05 are on site and ready to take over the operation with your permission. We'll wait."

Heero sighed. This was going to be a real pain in the ass. Duo was looking around with an eye for the equipment available. Not much so far, but hopefully there was something useful arriving soon.

Some nearby Officers looked askance at the boys who were calmly taking over the command center and wondered if the Chief had lost his mind. But others were settling down to receive orders from Gundam pilots. hot damn

The Chief took the phone from the CS and spoke for a moment, then he listened for quite a while. After speaking again he listened, turning whiter and whiter as he did so. Then he turned to Wufei and looked at him hard. Wufei looked back calmly, then the Chief turned to Heero and Duo and looked them over just as hard.

"I'll be dipped in shit and fried. You're all Gundam pilots?" At Heero's nod, he just shuddered. "You boys are the one's that used to make me wake up in a cold sweat. Shit and double shit. . . . Well" the Chief turned to the crew and announced."We got game. These innocent seeming juvies are Gundam pilots. All three of them. The other two are hostages in the bank. Hold your hats."

Duo eyed the man for a moment. "OK, what's the catch."

"No catch. I just got my ass ate out royally by Une and Lucretzia Noin bit a chunk out of what's left. You boys got props from so high up I nearly got nose bleed. I only got one thing to say. Those professors ought to be arrested and shot."

Heero, who'd been examining the set up, turned his head and grinned ferally at him. "I believe they were."

It was soon discovered that there was no equipment available. The swat team had taken most of it with them.

Duo was incensed. "You mean you only have one swat team and they're all on maneuvers at the same time?"

The chief gave him an exasperated look. "Yeah, one team and they go on maneuvers together. What do you expect? This is a small city. We're way down the list for financing and new technology. We're lucky to have one team. Just tell me what you need and we'll see want we can do."

Heero, Duo and Wufei got together, discussed, and cussed ,what they'd need and gave the chief a list. He looked at it and blinked, "A note book computer? And . . . what the hell is a slick stick."

Duo grunted. "A game controller. I use it as a joy stick for the cameras, saves trying to do it by key stroke. Get on it, will ya? Time's a'wastein'"

"What cameras?"

Duo rolled his eyes, this was getting harder by the second. They were none of them used to having to answer a million questions. "Will you get off my back, it's distracting and I'm workin' at a disadvantage here."

"What disadvantage. Tell me what equipment you need . . ."

"I really need my old computer. The software is already written but we don't have time to send for it. I'll just have to rewrite it from memory. Wufei, I need . . . oh." Duo examined the computer and nodded. "Good. It'll more than do. How'd you come up with it so fast?"

Wufei just pointed to Mrs. Campbell. She was standing at the side of the pavilion, nodding at them. "It's hers. She said if you wreck it, it's ok. Just save the hostages. She's staying as negotiator. Surprisingly the chief says she's really good."

Duo sat down with the computer and grumbled, he'd rather have a bat than the keyboard. But beggars couldn't be choosers. Then he started typing, his fingers flying over the keys.

While Duo was entering his programs, Heero and Wufei got other computers, borrowed from the chief himself and from the Com. Spec. Heero started gathering blue prints and floor plans while Wufei tried to find some equipment

"Ha! Gotcha!" Duo's exclamation brought several people to look over his shoulder which nearly caused a riot as he jumped several inches and nearly punched the man who'd put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't touch me. You wanna get wasted? Get offa me, go back to your jobs and be ready."

Heero had twitched when he saw the crowd around Duo but settled back to his work when he realized that they were just nosey. Now he watched the feed of floor plans and sighed. This was going to be harder that he liked. The whole damn floor was bomb proofed. fuck

"Ok what we got, boss man."

"Maxwell, do not call me boss man. We've got to show these people that we're disciplined. Not a bunch of show off kids."

"Sure, we're gonna impress a bunch of cops with our expertise. Gimme a break."

Heero snarled, "Arm or leg. Stop fooling around. You into the bank security system yet? Cameras?"

"Yeah. Board room is full of them and the lobby. Halls not so much, but enough that we can track everyone in the building. Not much going on. Just about everyone is out. A few stragglers trying to avoid the sweeper team. And that team isn't much. They're a bunch of wanna be's."

Wufei thought for a few moments and looked worried. The chief had to put in his bit. "Wanna be's can be more dangerous than the real thing. They don't really know what they're doing so they panic and that's bad. They shoot when they shouldn't and don't when they should. Could be to our disadvantage."

Heero nodded distracted. "Floor plan shows we got bomb proofing. You know how good it is? I can't find the spec's . And weapons . . . we need. . ."

"Explosives. That's what. And . . . damn. . . if I had Scythe, this would be . . ."

"A major disaster. You're the most destructive force around, short of Yuy, or a typhoon." Wufei frowned at the blue prints. "No help there. You won't fit into the vents. Too small."

No one questioned the fact that an entire department of adults was allowing three teenagers to take over without question. Lady Une was a force to be reckoned with herself, and anyone who'd been on the receiving end of one of her scathing put downs was more than eager to avoid another. If she said they could do it, they could.

"Shit. Well looks like we do it the hard way. I've got a round up. I'll mark the locations on the prints and we can plan something."

Duo took the floor plans and marked the location of all the visible personnel, there were more than enough men to keep control of eight business men. Unless two of them were teen age terrorists. (Sorry, ex-Terrorists)

Wufei looked at them and asked for a larger set of plans for the board room. When he got them he had Duo mark where each man was.

"Any hope of any of these guys being useful." Wufei looked at the chief who just shook his head. "Didn't think so. Will any of them . . . turn their coats?"

No, they never fought but they all know that giving in to these men will only prolong the problem. They'll be cooperative in that they won't cause trouble, but if you're thinking that they'll turn over your friends, no. They won't do that. But don't rely on them for more than that."

"Good enough. If Quatre and Trowa don't get busted, we have a better chance." Wufei turned back to the plans and muttered under his breath as he tried to plan an assault on a third floor meeting room, without proper equipment.

"We need explosives or. . . . A fucking Gundam would be really . . . " Duo got a funny look on his face at the same time Wufei exclaimed in Mandarin.

After some consultation and a few minutes spent watching the board room, they made plans as best they could without any way to get information to Quatre and Trowa. All they could do was hope that they reacted the right way.

Duo went over the plans one last time and wished vocally for some explosives.

"Damnit. I could make some if I had time, but I don't want to take the time to do it safely and I'm not blowin' my head off for nobody. Fuck. . . . well. Make do. 'Ro, saddle up."

Heero nodded to Duo and went to get some equipment. The sheriff, mean while, had rounded up everything on the list that Wufei had given him.

"Here boy I . . . I don't believe that a boy as polite as you is a terrorist."

Heero accepted the arms and armor with a smile. "Just because I'm going to kill you there's no reason to be rude as well. Oden Lowe despised that sort of behavior. I don't see any need to be rude either."

While he'd been speaking, Heero was donning the armor and checking Duo's as well. When he was through, he checked Duo over and Duo returned the favor. The armor was light and fairly comfortable; the weapons were standard assault rifles and hand guns.

Then Duo pitched in the kicker. He headed for the construction site where the mobile construction suit was stored. On the way he ran into Judge Randolph.

"Hey, Your Honor, you just watch. I'll show you how destructive even a construction mobile can be in the hands of someone who's certifiable." He turned to Heero who was following close behind. "Come on, we need to get moving."

"Who's the one who's gossiping?" Heero grinned at the Judge on the way by.

Judge Randolph gazed after two boys who were about to risk their lives laughing, and wondered.

Duo climbed into the suit and reached down to give Heero a hand up onto the suit's shoulder, where he settled close against the head.

Duo waited until the assault team Wufei had assembled was in position, then he walked out into the sun, the mobile gleaming in the bright glare.

Trowa cuddled Quatre making soft crooning sounds. The invaders had burst into the room guns out and pointed at the executives. Their demands were outrageous and impossible to fulfill. So they had gone on the defensive

Quatre had played the scared boy with Trowa as 'big brother.' Their excuse was that they were observers from the local high school. None of the board members had busted them; why, Trowa wasn't sure, but he was grateful none the less. Their cover was clear for now.

He'd managed to dial 911 on his cell and they had it between their bodies where, hopefully, the dispatcher could hear what was going on in the room. He hadn't taken the chance of checking because he didn't want to take the chance that one of the men would notice.

When he saw the mobile through the window, he nearly laughed out loud. Quatre felt him stiffen and managed a look out the window too. They both readied themselves for whatever was going to happen. There was no reason for a construction mobile to be off the site, much less walking around city streets.

Duo drew back his 'fist' and smashed the windows, then put the hand flat on the floor. Heero slid down the arm and landed rolling and firing.

He took out two men with snap shots he'd lined out while he was sliding. Quatre snapped up a sliding pistol and took out one, Trowa blocked a physical attack from their side and looked around for further threats.

Duo popped the hatch and followed Heero down the arm into the room. He'd had to take time to set the suit's gyros to hold it upright. He just hoped the batteries were strong enough to hold until he could get back to it. He didn't want it to fall on someone.

"Shit. Heero, you could have saved one for me you know."

Heero smirked at Duo. While he was busy with the suit, this whole phase of the operation was over. Trowa and Quatre were moping up while Heero watched the door. Duo took over from Heero and, at Trowa's direction, he dug the cell out of the couch and spoke to the dispatcher then hung up.

Duo handed the two ex-hostages radios and then searched the newly captured criminals for guns, ammo, or any other useful items. He rounded up ID from some of them and sneered.

"God, could these guys be anymore hopeless. Here, Trowa, zip cuffs all round. Oh, and I'll see that the board guys get stashed."

Duo suited actions to words and got the men into an inner room, instructing them to lock the door and not come out until they were called on the phone. Then he shut the door and forgot all about them.

They gathered in the board room and surveyed the situation. Quatre got in contact with Wufei who was leading the external assault team. They spoke for a few moments, then Quatre snickered softly.

He turned around and took a second to hug Heero murmuring softly. "Hey, there. Long time no see." Trowa just smirked at him and turned to the door.

They coordinated their assaults. Wufei started a distraction outside, Heero and Trowa leap frogged down the hall while Quatre checked rooms and Duo backed him up. They made it to the mezzanine without incident.

Wufei's frontal assault had drawn all the assailants to the lobby.

That assault was mostly for show as the locked front doors were bullet proof and the assault shield made it impossible to make a straight attack on the lobby.

Duo muttered, "Great defense if you don't let the robbers in the front door yourself. Now . . . " He kissed Heero and laughed maniacally. "I get to blow shit up."

"Huh?"

"Construction site equals demolitions equals C4, and other neat stuff. " Duo fiddled with a ball of plastique and then dropped it. "We got three. . . . . two . . . . . one. . . . "

The explosion smashed the doors open and a flood of men poured in through the doors only to run into withering fire from the still standing men who'd taken cover behind the cashier's stations.

Quatre frantically snarled into his radio only to be told that Wufei had been relieved of command by some hot shot. The chief shouted him down and returned command to Wufei but too late for several men who were shot in the assault. Wufei got control and a quick conference with Quatre got things back on track.

Heero stuck his head up, then Duo did the same. Trowa moved to another part of the mezzanine and got a good look, they compared notes and Quatre organized them

Calling for another assault, he gave directions to the others. They set themselves and when the next attack came, Heero slid down the railing, firing and reloading on the fly. Duo followed targeting carefully, with Quatre and Trowa bringing up the rear, moping up anyone who was still resisting.

Not many were. In fact, several men who were not only not wounded but still in position of weapons, surrendered; throwing themselves flat on the floor, spread eagled.

Heero grunted. He'd known there was a chance of this happening. On that last roll, he'd landed hard and broken his ankle.

Quatre looked around and shouted, "Status."

"On point."

"Taking side."

"Down."

"Fuck!" Duo took a second to glance at Heero, who had stayed sitting on the floor. He didn't see any blood, so he turned back to the point position, keeping his weapon pointed at the assembled prisoners.

Trowa as side was searching them and kicking weapons out of reach. Wufei entered the doors and marshaled his troops to take over the arrest, then he went to Heero.

"What happened?"

"Broke that weak ankle. Got some duck tape?"

"No. Got a medic."

Duo came over to sit by Heero and hold his hand. Trowa and Quatre both ran interference, sidetracking everybody away from the two lovers.

When the medics got there, Wufei triaged the scene, assigning numbers to the wounded. One's went first, then two's, etc. He assigned Heero an eight.

Quatre was on the phone making arrangements for Heero at the hospital, while Trowa fended off reporters.

Duo had helped Heero move to sit on the stairs and had rounded up a couple of sodas. So they were sitting drinking soda, and enjoying some time together. Duo eyed the shackles around Heero's ankles and sighed.

"Don't have a pick. You wanna put that chain back on? Or are you busted on that too."

"I'm busted, but it doesn't make any difference. They're not going to send me back to Fitzroy, or to Hellcreek, with this ankle. It's bad."

"Hurt much?"

"No more than any other broken bone."

Heero leaned into Duo, taking in his smell, the feel of his muscled chest under his cheek and storing it up in his memory.

Duo held him and wished he never had to let go.

Finally Sheriff Haskins got to them. When he saw Heero, he just sighed.

"Boy, what now?"

"Broke my weak ankle. They'll transport me soon. I'm not bleeding out or anything, so I'm last on the list. It's ok. I get to spend more time with my friends." Heero introduced the sheriff around.

After shaking hands and greeting all around the sheriff nodded to the traffic jam outside.

"If you're good to go, I could take you in my car. It's outside that mess. What do you say?"

Heero looked a Quatre, who just shrugged and said it could be several hours. He recommended taking the offer as the sooner Heero got on regen, the better. He admitted he'd made arrangements with the hospital for him to have a private room.

Duo looked at the sheriff and liked what he saw so he didn't protest when the sheriff lifted Heero in his arms and started off with him. Wufei put an arm around Duo and Trowa hugged Quatre. Heero held Duo's hand until the last minute then they both slowly let their arms drop.

"Boy, this is getting to be a habit."

Heero chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess it is. We got to quit meeting like this."

A bat, or cording keyboard is a one handed key board that some of us covet. You only need one hand to type. I'm interested in a frogpad myself.

Wow, 'nother chapter done. There'll be a break here while I work on To Serve and Protect. It's been three weeks since I posted there.

Thanks to: Melizamac, dkjoy, Lady Katasha, Starcat1, Zakai, pippy32388, Rude02, your reviews mean a lot to me.


	11. Friends

Friends

"Well . . . that's blown the lid off it." Relena watched the vid cast with interest mingled with disgust.

She'd hoped her machinations would let the 'Gundam Boys' as she thought of them, live some kind of normal life. But like her, their destiny seemed to be in the public eye, or at least still in some kind of combat. She was disappointed but not surprised.

"Miss, the representative you wished to speak with is here."

"Thank you, Pagan. Send him in, and bring me the paperwork I had made up."

After an hour of polite listening and head nodding Relena smiled a practiced and empty smile and asked. "Do you really think those boys knew what they were doing was . . . politically motivated?"

"Well, they knew that it was wrong."

"It was war. They were soldiers following orders."

The man sneered. "Bah. They were old enough to know . . . "

"Excuse me." Relena interrupted ruthlessly. "They were told that they were the only hope to end the war. Heero started training at twelve. Trowa was trained all his life to obey orders. Duo was a grief-stricken eleven or so when he started. Wufei saw his wife killed, she died in his arms if I'm not mistaken. The only one who might . . . might, I say, be held accountable is Quatre Raberba Winner and I'd like to see you try that one. Can you say political and social suicide?"

"Damnit, my constituents are demanding that someone be punished for things. It's more than my position is worth to ignore their demands. Someone . . . they don't care who."

"I see. Well, here, I know that you are signatory for quite a few other representatives. This is the best I can do. Most of the colonies are ignoring the problem completely. Denying any involvement in this mess. I think that we need to show that we are better than they are. You know that the minute the crunch came they denied them completely." The man nodded wondering where Relena was taking this and getting uncomfortable. "We can either treat them as criminals and show that we are no better than the men who sent five fifteen-year-old boys to their death." He looked startled. "Oh, those nasty old men didn't expect them to live more than six months at best. Martyrs to the cause, noble sacrifices. But they did live, and were instrumental in the destruction of the Alliance. So . . . do we place ourselves solidly on the side of truth, freedom and peace. Or do we show that we are no better than the Alliance and punish these noble freedom fighters for following the orders of their controllers." Relena managed to combine sadness and nobility into one expression.

The representative sat stunned and nodding. He'd lost this round and probably every other he was ever to have with the lady.

"How many signatures do you have?"

"Two hundred. They all just want their constituents satisfied that something has been done to redress their concerns. Those boys are a danger to . . ."

"Oh, stop right now." Indignation danced across her face. "They were taught to fight, they can be taught not to. But I know them all personally and I can grantee that they fought for peace and freedom. They will not fight just for the sake of fighting. I find that I have to admit that the Principle of Perfect Pacifism isn't working. We must fight. I am rapidly understand things that I don't want to. But in order to ensure . . . conditional peace . . . for as many people as possible there are some that must sacrifice their personal peace for the good of all. The Gundam pilots are some of those people.

"I need you to sign here and here, and attach the lists of signatories. I'll handle the details; all this is is to allow me to decide for myself what the necessary actions are. That will allow immediate action as no voting will be needed; it also relieves the Council of Representatives of the necessity of wasting the councils time debating what should be done. It's all in my hands now and I promise that appropriate actions will be taken. Tea?"

The representative accepted tea with the vague, unhappy feeling that he'd been manipulated. Relena poured tea and offered snacks then excused herself, explaining that she had to take care of some business.

She politely waited to gloat until she was in her private office.

Quatre hung up the phone and flung himself into Trowa's arms. "She got it signed. I think she flim-flamed the senior representative completely. She said there were no emendations to the resolution at all. She's a shark."

Trowa called Wufei and Duo to come to the big 'family' room. When they all got settled, Quatre explained what he wanted to do after some discussion it was decided that the final footage of Duo and Heero being separated should be the starting point.

Duo stood up and stretched. "I'm going to see Heero. I really wanted to be there with him yesterday but the emergency room staff said I'd be in the way."

Quatre was glad to tell them that he'd gotten permission from the headmaster for all of them to visit Heero anytime they wanted to. So Trowa called for a car and they all went to the hospital to see Heero.

When they got to the hospital the floor nurse asked for relationship and, when told that they were friends, she tried to explain that only family was allowed in because of regulations. Then she told them flatly that he, Heero, wasn't allowed visitors, especially a bunch of rowdy boys.

Wufei took exception immediately. "Madam. We are not rowdy. Have we, any of us spoken above normal?"

Well, no. but I know boys. You . . ."

Quatre interrupted her, handing her his ID. "I pay the bills. I think I have the right to visit whenever I like. We haven't broken any rules, so I don't understand why you are acting like this. If I have any more trouble I think it will be necessary for me to speak to the Head Administrator. I think we understand one another?"

The nurse looked like she'd bitten into something sour, but she let them go in. Quatre insisted that she make a note on the chart that they were to be allowed unlimited access at any time.

"Stupid. Why can't people have any visitors they want? It's just dumb. I bet lots of people don't get visitors they expect because they can't get in." Duo was feeling grumpy. He hadn't slept that well and had spent the morning worrying about Heero; so near and yet, so far.

Heero looked up from his book when the door flew open. He'd been settled into a very nice private room with a pretty view of the hospital's garden. Quatre had sent someone from his office late the evening before. That man had questioned him closely about what he needed. The box that had arrived this morning was full of things. An e-book reader, his laptop, and his assignments for the time he was projected to be in the hospital.

Duo dashed in and clambered onto the bed, careful not to bump the regen unit. Heero held out his arms and gathered Duo to his chest. He buried his nose in the curve of Duo's neck and inhaled.

"Duo sit up. Come on." Heero urged Duo upright. "Man, I've missed you. That smell. God you're so . . . " Duo collapsed back on Heero's chest snuggling down.

"What? What's this?"

Duo plucked at the heavy canvas band across Heero's chest. The strap ran across Heero's chest just under the lower curve of his pectoral's.

Heero made a face. "If you laugh, I'll . . . tickle you. I forgot, tried to get out of bed, and fell. Really made a mess. I feel stupid."

Duo snickered, "You fell out of bed? I'd have loved to be a fly on the wall."

"No you wouldn't. I rebroke my ankle and bruised my ribs. You should have heard the nurse swear. And the orderlies had fits too. I don't think the Doctor was really happy with me either. He . . . suggested that I wouldn't like being put in a straight jacket."

Duo was instantly indignant. "He what?. . . I'll . . . Quatre."

Quatre gave Heero a repressive look. "Heero, that's not funny. Duo's been having nightmares about what might be happening to you. Stop teasing him."

Heero stroked Duo's back gently and kissed his forehead. "I'm sorry, love. He didn't mean it. He was just trying to impress on me how important it is that I don't pull another stunt like that one. My ankle didn't heal well from the last break. He said something about lack of calcium and low grav. I didn't bother to listen. I'm not trained for that."

Wufei reached out and rescued Duo's braid from the danger of catching in the gear under the bed. "Maxwell, watch out. You're going to get caught. Here." Wufei handed the end of the silken rope to Heero.

Trowa urged Quatre to one side so he could close the door. The room was nice; large, airy and accommodating. There were several chairs and a couch arranged in a conversation group with side tables and a coffee table. Trowa and Wufei moved chairs to the bed side.

After some shuffling and hugging they all settled down; Trowa and Quatre close together, holding hands; Wufei slightly to one side, smiling indulgently.

Quatre cleared his throat and Heero perked up. That specific 'ahem' had always prefaced something that was not good for their opponents.

"We've got to do something. There's a strong movement by the Doves to 'do something' with/to us. We're undesirable . . . I'm afraid that, if we don't make some kind of splash, the public will turn their backs on us again. But . . . I have some ideas. We need to discuss them. I won't do anything without everyone's agreement."

Heero nodded. He had been keeping in touch with the mood of the people. They were reveling in the new found peace without thought to how to maintain it. Pirates were running rampant and drifting splinters of Oz and White Fang were starting to regroup. Kidnaping and hostage taking were on the rise and e-fraud was out of control. Not to mention the rise in simple crimes like muggings, burglaries and robberies of all kinds. Car jacking was at a new high.

In other words, the Alliance had policed strictly, enforcing laws with an iron hand. Now that the Perfect Peace Principle was being bruited about as the way of the world, criminals of all kinds were taking advantage of the removal of law enforcement.

The police were gutted. Two thirds of them had been 'released from service', in other words, fired for 'offences against the people.' That vague cover-all catch phrase was used to remove officers that were unable to conform to the new human rights rules, some of which had been copied from late twentieth century old calendar statutes. They were also used to remove officers that had problems with superiors and officers who were disliked by their fellows, no matter their record.

In other words, the peace wasn't going to last out the next two or three years unless some stern measures were taken. Quatre was ready to take some of those measures right now. The sooner the better.

After spending the next three hours discussing what needed to be done Heero finally moved Duo slightly to one side. "Scrooch, my leg is starting to hurt." Heero looked around at four deer in the headlight looks and shrugged. "What? It is. Why should I play the stoic anymore? Ignoring my hurts doesn't keep me in good condition. That was J.'s idea. Doesn't work." Heero settled Duo at his side instead of on top of him.

Quatre gave Heero a smile of such brilliance that everyone had to return it.

"Well, I see that the therapy is working. You did get therapy in the pen, didn't you?"

Heero snickered. "The pen. How archaic. It's a glorified boarding school. Only without privileges. And I've been getting intensive therapy. I see what J did to me, and frankly, if he wasn't already dead I'd kill him myself. I'm still messed up, but I'm willing to change. In fact, I want to. All I need, really, is education. I was never taught interpersonal relations. But do any of us really understand why other people do the things they do? I've just got inadequate coping mechanisms. I'm learning. Slowly, but surely. And your love and support help greatly."

Everybody found something interesting to look at.

The mood was brightened by the arrival of Heero's lunch. Duo was instantly critical, nothing on the tray was anything other than institutional. After inspecting the offering, they all agreed that Heero wasn't eating any of it.

"I don't even want to know." Duo poked a square of jell-O. "What the hell is that?"

"It's jell-O, Duo. You've seen it before."

"Yeah . . . with sweepers. But jell-O isn't supposed to be . . . rubbery. Jell-O is . . . squishy . . . and jiggly. This is . . . vulcanized. That's what. I wouldn't feed that to a hog. Besides . . . it's green."

Wufei eyed the offering with some displeasure. "It's green because it's lime. Not a very good choice . . . Heero, do you even like lime?"

Quatre hadn't bothered to do more than get on his phone, while Trowa gave up the effort not to laugh as a lost cause and nearly fell out of his chair.

Duo glared around indignantly. "Well, it is! And Heero doesn't like lime. I remember."

Heero hugged Duo and pushed the tray away. "I'll survive. I'll eat it later. I'm too excited to be hungry just now."

Again he got stunned and disbelieving looks from all the others except Trowa, who gave him a secret smile.

Quatre couldn't stand it anymore. Now that business was out of the way and a consensus met, he wanted his hugs. He crawled onto the bed and settled himself on Heero's left side Duo was on the right and being careful not to kick the regen unit on Heero's ankle.

Heero looked over at Wufei who was looking, lonely was the only emotion Heero could attach to that particular look. He held his hand out to the other young man and Wufei took it. Heero pulled gently until Wufei got up and leaned over the bed. Duo, understanding what Heero wanted, scooted closer to Heero, making enough room for Wufei to climb on the bed, just barely. Trowa, seeing what was wanted, got on the bed behind Quatre

That put Heero on the bottom, with Duo and Quatre sharing his broad chest, and Trowa behind Quatre; Wufei behind Duo, all of them sharing a group hug horizontal cuddle.

"This is nice. You guys ok?"

Affirmative answers from all made everyone more comfortable. They settled in to enjoy a good gossip.

"What's that?" Duo reared up slightly, listening. The sound of stressed metal was familiar to all of them. But where was it coming from?

The sound came again. Not very loud, barely a whisper; but to colony born people it was loud in the sudden silence.

Then it happened. The bed collapsed with a bang. Heero clutched everyone on the way down so no one was hurt. But the door flew open to admit a guard who pointed his .32 caliber snub nose at them.

"Freeze!" So they did. With open mouths and wide eyes. They looked like a pile of puppies.

Wufei gave up. He roared and the rest followed. The Doctor came in behind the guard and was treated to the sight of Heero, flat on his back with Quatre kneeling across his hips, Duo squatting on the floor beside him and Trowa and Wufei crouched on either side of the bed, laughing their heads off.

Suddenly Duo grabbed Quatre. "Hey, off my man. You floozie."

Quatre squawked in mock fear and they began to wrestle. Rolling around on the floor with Wufei and Trowa still laughing and Heero encouraging Duo to protect his virtue. The Doctor called them to order in a stern voice.

"Here. You boys stop that. You. . . how the hell did you break the bed. Get up and settle down."

After they got sorted out and settled a bit, the Doctor ordered several orderlies to bring in another bed and get it set up. While he waited, he squatted down and examined Heero.

"Well, vitals a little elevated, but that's to be expected. I was called by the Head Administrator, he's in a panic. Something not right? He didn't make much sense. Seems Mr Winner is in a snit."

Quatre shook his head. "I'"m not in a snit, I'm in jeans."

The Doctor gave him a startled look.

"Yes, I know. You were expecting someone older. But I'm Winner. I . . . well." Quatre gave a gentle laugh. "Heero has had more than enough institutional food. I want him to have something a little more tempting. He'll eat anything, but that's not necessarily a good thing. I feel that he will do better on foods that tempt his appetite. This stuff . . ."

Duo interrupted. Showing the Doctor the jell-o, he announced. "No one should have to eat vulcanized jell-O. It's not . . . it's just gross. Would you eat that?"

The Doctor eyed the miraculously unspilled tray with disgust. "I don't eat in the cafeteria for that very reason. If you want to carry in foods just show what you're bringing in to the nurse so we can make sure he's getting a balanced diet." He stood back motioning Duo to take the offending food away. "You haven't done any damage to yourself with your antics. Though I'd still like to know how you broke that bed."

Duo eyed the Doctor then 'fessed up' "Well . . . it's structure, . . . while very sound, wasn't up to the weight of a group hug. The five of us must weigh in at around seven hundred pounds. We all weigh more than it looks like we should."

The Doctor had to laugh. The picture of all five of them on a collapsing bed was comical.

Ok, since no one was hurt, I'll let it slide . . . this time . . . but no more of that. I don't want to have to take the next step with that leg. Mr. Yuy doesn't need a pin at his age. Now, as to the food. Two rules and we won't have a problem. Calcium rich. Cheese, dairy, green leafy vegetables, and I don't mean iceberg lettuce. Plenty of fresh fruit. . . please don't stuff him full of junk food and sugar. And you have to show everything to the nurse so she can record it. Other than that. No wheelchair races, keep him in bed. Amuse him. And no sex. I mean it. That'll get you all banned quickly."

Duo blinked. "Ok. But . . . shit."

The Doctor eyed the disappointed couple and sighed. "I know it's hard. But if he gets over excited, to be polite, he might do something to rebreak that leg. I can't over emphasize how bad that could be. I'm leaving you alone now. He has meds in . . . " the Doctor consulted his watch. "Twenty minutes. Make sure he takes them. He's not hurting now, but without the meds, he will. He's uncomfortable enough with that regen chaining him in place, he doesn't need additional pain. Now, they've got the new bed set up."

The Doctor left with a final warning that horseplay would get them thrown out. Orderlies moved the new bed into place and lifted Heero, regen unit and all, into it. They fussed around tucking him in and checking his catheter to make sure it wasn't pinched. Duo eyed it with disfavor but didn't say anything. Getting Heero in and out of bed with a full regen unit was impossible.

Just then, the sour faced nurse bustled in. "Broke the bed did you. Well, any more antics from you and you're all out. I don't care who's paying the bills. That's too dangerous to happen again. Bouncing on the bed. You could have broken that leg again." They all rolled their eyes. "And don't you roll your eyes at me young men. I've got sons older than you. I've got grand sons older, in fact."

Duo sighed. Heero poked him and hissed. "She's ok. Stop that. Make nice."

Trowa had just taken a tray from the nurse and was standing by, holding it for her. He frowned at Duo behind her back and Wufei backed him up with a glare. Quatre 'made nice' for them all

"We weren't bouncing on the bed. I swear. It's just that we haven't been able to see Heero for some time, so we all wound up on the bed together, just hugging you see. And . . . the weight was too much for the thing. We're sorry to be so much trouble. Really."

The nurse gave him a skeptical look, but Quatre's wide eyed angel look had fooled much harder cases.

"Well, . . . all right. But no more. And Heero, you didn't eat your lunch." Her expression changed dramatically, from sour to indulgent. "Didn't you like it, honey?"

Heero shook his head. "No. I don't like lime, or green beans boiled to mush. And I'm positively not eating anything I can't identify. Mystery meat? No thanks."

"Now, Heero, you have to eat to get well. If you don't eat this, there's nothing more til supper unless your friends bring you something nice." The nurse inserted a thermometer in Heero's ear and glanced at it. Then she took his pulse and blood pressure still talking. "If you could get them to bring you a pizza that would be good. Nice cheesy pizza. Lots of calcium in cheese. Here's your meds."

Heero made a sour face, the pills made him groggy for a while after he took them. So he tucked them in his cheek.

Duo waited a beat then snarled. "Swallow them. They don't do you any good if you don't take them."

The nurse looked from one man to the other and sighed. "Heero, you have to take them. You haven't been stockpiling them have you? That's not good."

Heero acted like any other nearly eighteen-year-old caught doing something he shouldn't, he turned an amazingly brilliant shade of scarlet. "No ma'am. I just don't want to take them this time. They make me goofy. I haven't been able to see my friends for so long. I just want to have more time with them before someone figures out how to keep them out."

"Hum. Here's another glass of water. Swallow those pills. Now." This time Mrs. Jackson made Heero stick out his tongue to prove he'd swallowed them.

She turned to Quatre and eyed him, then caught the others with a look. "He'll be groggy for about twenty minutes. I think one of you could stay with him while the rest get him a pizza. And a malt. You might see about a fresh spinach salad too."

Quatre nodded, then told Duo to stay with Heero. "I've got to go to the office and get started on our little presentation. I'll be busy for the next day or two so don't expect to see much of me."

"Or me." Trowa rose to go with Quatre. Wufei nodded. That left him to run interference for Duo and Heero.

"I'll go get a pizza." Wufei made a face. "Heero, you want a malt too? I don't think the two go very well."

Heero yawned but nodded. "Have the nurse put it in the fridge. I can have it later. Chocolate please."

"Heero. Heero, you have to wake up." Duo shook Heero by the shoulder. " Ro, don't punch me. Wake up."

Heero groggily struggled to wakefulness, sort of.

"Mmmm. Wa'? 'M wake."

An amused voice penetrated the drug haze "No, you're not. I can tell. What are they giving him?"

Duos' voice replied. "I'm not sure. The chart is on the door."

Mr. Compton's voice replied. "Ah, yes, I"m familiar with that drug. It not only eases pain but aids in calcium absorbsion. Not that good a choice considering Heero's age. But . . . I'll speak to the Doctor, I don't want Heero logy. It could be dangerous." Mr. Compton turned to Duo. "And who are you?"

Heero managed to drag himself to wakefulness and take part. "That's Duo. He's my . . . friend. Is it ok for him to be here?"

Mr. Compton shook hands with Duo. "Hello. You're his lover? I'm glad you could be here. If the hospital allows it, he's more than welcome as far as I'm concerned. I wanted to touch base with you to see how you are. I don't believe you did that. Amazing."

Heero sighed this was going to be difficult.

"I didn't lie to you. I. . . "

"Just didn't tell all the truth. We were well aware you were hiding something, but since we didn't have paper work, we just went with the flow. You were always so cooperative and . . . er . . . polite we couldn't believe you were in for much of anything . . . well, well. A Gundam pilot. If we'd known who you really were. We'd have made sure you got more therapy than you did. As it is . . ."

Duo stuck in his two cents worth. "As it is . . . he didn't wind up in Hellcreek. That's all to the good. If he needs more therapy, Quatre will make sure he gets it. We're all in therapy. Private sessions three times a week and a group session once a week."

Mr. Compton smiled at Duo, he was happy to see that the young man had good friends. Then he blinked 'Hellcreek?'

"They were sending you to Hellcreek . . but . . .that's for long term sentences. . . adult felons, hard cases. That's no place for a . . . a boy. Damnit. Well I'm glad we didn't push it enough to get you sent there."

"I'd have been ok. You don't know what I can do if I have too."

Mr. Compton jumped Heero before Duo could. "I don't want to hear it. You could handle it, but it would have ruined you forever. You have a chance to be a contributing citizen, do something worthwhile with your life. By the time you got through fighting your way through a sentence in that hell hole, you'd never recover."

Duo was just nodding vigorously. "See Heero? I'm not the only one who thinks you can do something good. You're not just a Perfect Soldier. You're a worthwhile person. No matter what. So just shut up."

Heero looked startled then sat with an arrested expression. "I think I know what I want to do, but how to go about it? Duo, we need to have a talk after a while." Heero turned to Mr. Compton. "Thank you for stopping by. I really appreciate it. Are you in any trouble? I hope not. Will you be back soon?"

Mr. Compton shook his head. "No. And we got a big wig coming to tour the facility soon. No idea exactly when. You know how that goes. So I'll be busy getting things lined up for that. I probably won't make it back. And I'm glad to say neither will you be coming back to Fitzroy. Lady Peacecraft made arrangements for you to go to Allenville from here."

Duo gulped but Heero looked slightly stunned. "Allenville? Me? Well, isn't that a kick in the head."

Duo clutched at Heero "Kick in the head. No one's kicking . . ."

Heero shut Duo up by kissing him firmly.

"No kicking. No. Calm down. Pay attention. Allenville is a country club detention facility."

Duo looked from Mr. Compton to Heero. "Huh? A what? Tell me that's something good."

"It's very good. There isn't even a fence. It's all honor system." Heero brightened considerably. "And no work farm or chores."

Mr. Compton blinked, he hadn't thought that Heero was lazy, like most of the other boys. He'd always seemed eager to go out to do farm work.

Heero caught the look.

"I don't mine the chores. It was a good way to get out of the buildings and get extra exercise, earn some commissary money. I got along well with the other men on the gang. But you'll have to admit it's a waste of my time. This way I can spend time in the gym. . . . physical therapy for now. Real exercise later. Then I can spend quality time in the library. I can finish my degree before I get out."

Duo grinned, trust Heero to take advantage of every opportunity to learn. He was working on his fifth degree himself.

"What you getting a degree in? Ro, tell me it's not some sissy liberal arts degree." Duo ducked the miss-swat Heero aimed in his general direction.

"No, not liberal arts. Accounting. To go along with the degree in programming and the one in hardware design, and systems management, and law. I know you haven't been messing around."

Duo sighed, "Well, after I clepped out of my high school requirements . . . You did too . . ." Duo smirked happily. "I took up on line. I've got a degree in programming, systems analysis, electronic engineering, bio chemical engineering and aeronautic design. I'm thinking of working on one in colonial architecture as well, but I'm not sure. Of course, there's always a use for knowledge of any kind."

Mr. Compton goggled at both of them. "You're both outrageous. You've got between you . . ." He counted in his head. "Ten degrees. PhD's I presume. And you're talking about taking more?"

"Sure." Duo looked blank. "I didn't even learn to read until I was about nine. So I always feel like I'm making up for lost time. Heero's so smart it's . . . why don't you have more degrees than me?"

Heero shrugged. "You got to study anytime you wanted. I had chores to do and intensive therapy all afternoon, if I was caught up. Which I tried to do as much as possible. So I'm behind."

Compton threw up his hands "Behind? Five degrees and he says he's behind. I give up. Boy, you're a pistol. I'll see you around." Mr. Compton offered his hand to Heero, who shook it gravely, but gave him a sweet smile as well.

"You make sure he stays off that leg until the Doctor allows him up. Hear?"

Duo nodded and also shook Mr Comptons' hand. "I'll keep him down. Don't you worry. . . um. . . thanks for taking care of Heero. I . . .well, just thanks."

"You're very welcome. Good-by"

Mr. Compton left, holding the door open for Wufei and the pizza.

Wufei handed around slices of pizza, "I brought you a malt. Nurse Jackson put it away for you. She said you could have ice tea with the pizza but no soda. Says it interferes with the meds. So, tea or water."

"Water, I don't particularly care for ice tea. Its . . . tea should be hot. You know."

Wufei did indeed. "Yes I miss our tea ceremonies. Some day soon we'll be able to do one again. Flip you for first."

Heero smiled "Ok." He used a paper napkin to wipe his mouth and fingers. "Got a coin?"

Wufei fished a coin out of his pocket and they flipped. Heero won.

"Here, Duo, be careful! Don't get sauce on the sheets."

"Ok, but it doesn't make much difference. The nurse will just change them."

"And why should she be bothered with our mess. She's got enough to deal with without having to change my sheets again just because you made a mess."

Duo gave Heero a chagrined look. "Yeah, you're right. I'm . . . I guess I'm just in a pissy mood."

Wufei knew exactly why Duo was in a bad mood. He wanted to stay with Heero over night. Never mind that they couldn't make love, he just wanted to be near him, but the Head Administrator had nixed that, saying that it was pushing regulations too far.

"It's ok, love. You wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. It's too noisy. I have to have a sleeping pill or I'm awake all night. They finally gave me one at two this morning. I'm still messed up" Heero yawned. "I think I'll take a nap . . . Wufei, if you say anything I'll have Duo smack you."

Wufei gave him a 'who me' look and settled into a recliner. "I'm getting a few winks too.. . . Duo, settle down and get some sleep too. You look like hell."

"Yeah, well you don't look much better. Wind-down's a bitch, ain't it."

When Nurse Jackson looked in a few minutes later she saw Heero flat on his back with Duo curled into his side, head on his shoulder, braid draped across Heero's chest. Wufei was half asleep in the recliner and only opened one eye as she carefully gathered up the empty pizza box and used napkins.

The next three days were occupied with visits to the hospital and various duties in Winner Central offices.

Heero was finally put into a portable regen unit which allowed him freedom from the bed and catheter. He could use a wheel chair but was still forbidden to put any weight on his leg. Duo still continued to spend the after noon with Heero napping and talking. He brought Heero his laptop and they spent time deciding on what Degrees they wanted.

"Maybe a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering . . . or Material Science and Engineering is good. What about Aeronautics and Astronautics? What do you think?" Duo tossed the catalogue from MIT onto the floor and sighed. "Electrical engineering and Computer Science we both got already. Clepping that one was a real pain, I had to do a vid conference interview and that was a nightmare. Everybody seemed to think he or she was the only one asking me questions".

"How did you handle that.?"

"Oh, I just used the keyboard and a mic. at the same time and answered as fast as I could. Worked out pretty good."

Heero settled in for a nap. He'd found out that lethargy was another one of the side effects of the drug they were giving him to aid in mending his broken bone. Since he couldn't walk, he'd spent most of his time trying to get subjects lined up for his next degree. He didn't see any reason not to get as many as he was capable of.

Duo snuggled against Heero, he was glad they'd finally put him in a porta regen. Heero didn't like sleeping on his back and he'd slept restlessly, if at all, until now. Now, he seemed to be making up for lost time.

He didn't mind, he liked napping, especially with Heero. He'd learned long ago to eat, sleep, and take care of personal matters whenever he could.

When the door opened Heero was awake enough to realize that there was no threat, but sleepy enough that he didn't immediately come to.

"Heero? Heero."

Heero groaned silently, he wasn't in the mood for one of Relena's snits. He hadn't seen her since they'd turned themselves in, for which he was grateful.

Duo popped up from behind Heero and peered at Relena, bright eyed and smirking. "Hi Lady P."

"Oh, Duo you nearly scared me to death. Is he awake? In pain? Is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah, quit talking about me like I'm not here." Heero was grumpy. He'd been half tempted to go back to sleep, now he had to cope with 'Miss Pink' as he'd begun thinking of her.

"Heero, I'm sorry. I know you need your sleep, but this is the only time I'll ever get to see you. Maybe for a long time."

Duo poked Heero in the back. "Make nice. She's done a lot for us. You know that."

Heero nodded and struggled to sit up. Relena hurried to help him and Duo let her. He handled the porta regen, turning it into a more comfortable position, as Relena helped Heero sit up. She stuffed pillows behind him and nattered around, smoothing the covers and fussing.

"Relena, I'm sorry if I'm being a little abrupt. The meds make me groggy for a while after I take them, so I usually nap until they wear off some. I'm still not quite compus. What do you want?"

Relena looked at Duo then Heero. The look on Duo's face finally convinced her that there was no hope. She gave up as gracefully as she could.

"Heero, I . . . oh, dear. I promised myself I wouldn't cry." Relena fished in her purse for a tissue. "I . . damnit."

Duo pushed a handful of tissues into her fumbling fingers. "Here. Just take your time. Mr. Grouch here, will wake up in a minute." Duo turned to Heero and made odd motions.

"Duo, you know I'm no good a pantomime. Just spit it out. Relena will understand. Won't you?"

Relena nodded and sniffled a little. "I'm sorry I just . . . I can't help mourning what might have been. I'll be ok in a minute."

Duo felt bad for Relena. Sure she was spoiled, but she worked hard for peace and he had to respect that; even if her idea of perfect peace was a pipe dream.

Heero, with typical directness, demanded to know exactly what was going on. Duo patted him on the shoulder, instructing him to wait until Relena had better control of herself.

When Relena finally sniffled herself to a halt she suggested going to the nearby solarium. "I feel strange trying to talk to you while you're in bed. It's just not done. I'm sorry to be such a prude."

So they started the laborious process of getting Heero into a wheel chair. Duo helped him move the regen unit off the bed and down to the floor. Then he pushed the chair up behind Heero, but actually getting him into the chair was a problem. He couldn't balance and push at the same time, so all he could do was sit on the edge of the chair and scoot back as far as he could. He couldn't lift the regen unit with his broken leg and he couldn't get enough leverage to scoot any farther back

Duo sighed, they usually had an orderly to help, but they were obviously not allowed anywhere near Relena.

Relena knelt at Heero's feet. "What should I do? He has to sit down soon or he'll put weight on that and that's not good."

So, at Duo's instruction, she lifted the regen onto the foot rest as Duo lifted Heero by locking his arms around him from behind and under his armpits. They managed to get him into the chair without incident and Duo wheeled Heero to the solarium with Relena walking beside him.

"Look, I know you want to talk to Heero. I'm gonna see if I can't find some coffee. I'll be back in. . . " Duo looked at Heero. "Half an hour?" Heero nodded and Duo left them together.

They did some catching up and some gossiping, but Relena had something she wanted to get off her chest, so finally she just started.

"Heero. I'm sorry. I'm so very, very sorry."

"Stop apologizing. You . . . just exactly what are you apologizing for."

Relena rubbed her forehead. She was beginning to get a headache."

"For not protecting you from that bunch of old ladies. For following you over half of Europe and endangering your missions. For being stupidly idealistic. You know the countries are reestablishing their borders? For . . . just anything and everything stupid that I've done that hurt you or Duo or any of the others."

Relena looked down at her hands, twisting the fingers into anguished knots.

Heero reached out and took her hands. "Don't. You did your best. I know that. I. . . just . . . I wish things could have been different. You don't deserve this. You . . ."

"I deserve a friend. But Duo . . . he . . . he's . . ."

"Relena, if you want to be my friend ,you'll have to accept Duo too."

Relena made a little moue of distaste. "He's so ignorant. And crude. And . . . " Relena slapped her hand over her mouth. "I sound like a jealous bitch. Oh . . . Heero. If you love him, I'll love him too. For your sake. Maybe we could teach him?"

"Teach him what? Which fork to eat escargot with? He knows. Quatre taught him. . . and me. Relena. He's smart and bright and beautiful. If you'll only look. Please. I'd like for us to be friends. Please?"

Just then Duo came back in with a little tray holding three cups of coffee.

"Ersatz, but better than nothing. Here. Heero . . . virgin. Me . . . light and too sweet. Relena, half light. What were you two scheming about? I'll help ok?" Duo handed Relena her coffee first, with a little bow, then settled on an ottoman near Heero and smiled companionably.

"Duo? You remembered how I like my coffee after all this time?"

"Sure. Perfect memory. Now . . . what are you two up to?"

Relena put on an innocent face, but her eyes twinkled with mischief. "I've been having trouble with some of the representatives. I finally got the head representative to commit his signatories to my contract with you all. It's more or less set in stone. I'll pay for it, one way or another, but it was worth it. They can't sweep the colonial involvement in the Gundam 'atrocities' under a rug anymore."

"Atrocities? What the fuck? Who started calling our . . . attacks that?"

Relena smirked at Duo. "I did. But I'm not referring to your attacks on the Alliance, but their treatment of you, and the others, when they captured you. There's a lot of footage from security cameras. Quatre has it all. Look out, because you're about to have your cover blown, big time. "

Duo shrugged. "Don't make much difference. We'll never really fit in. And the things we're trained to do aren't exactly the sort of things that keep you from being noticed. Q has us all working for him."

Relena nodded, she had so hoped that she could protect them all from just what was happening. She firmly pushed her hopes down and ignored them to death.

Heero held out his arms and then started to drop them, he wanted to be friends with Relena, he liked her when she wasn't being obsessive. Both Heero and Relena were startled when Duo scooped her up and plunked her in Heero's lap.

Heero cuddled her to his chest and Duo managed to squat in front of them so he could hug Relena from the other side. Relena turned her head to look into sympathetic amethyst eyes.

"I'd like to be freinds with you. We all fought for peace in our own way. Without all of us it wouldn't have been possible. I appreciate your efforts to help us. Even if they didn't work the way you wanted. Pax?"

Relena gave Duo a somewhat watery smile "Pax." As a distraction, she turned her attention to the catalogue on the floor. "What's this?"

Heero settled her more comfortably on his lap and watched as Duo opened the catalogue to the section they'd been studying. "We're trying to decide on the next degree we want to get."

"The next one? What?" Relena looked from one to the other. "How many degrees do you have?"

"Between us, ten. What? I'm crude, but not stupid. Scrounging from dumpsters has a whole other set of manners from eating at a table."

Relena gave Duo a horrified look and realized that the stories she'd heard were all true, not exaggerations. She burst into tears.

Heero just stroked her shoulders and made soothing noises until she wound down. Duo watched with interest.

Relena finally got herself together, apologized all around and tried to get up from Heero's lap, without much success. There was no way for her to get any leverage without 'going below the belt,' which she was squeamish about doing.

"Here Duo, take her." Heero lifted her out of his lap and handed her to Duo who carefully put her on her feet. But not before giving her a quick hug of his own.

"Heero I . . you. . . er. . . " Relena found herself stammering.

"Why am I so . . . touchy-feely, as Duo would say?" Heero revealed that he had a sweet smile when he chose to use it. "Therapy, lots and lots of therapy. I . . Oden wasn't a toucher. And J. . . . every time he touched me it hurt or led to something unpleasant. I've finally gotten it through my head that touching doesn't always hurt. In fact it usualy leads to nice things, at least with my friends. So I'm kinda making up for lost time."

Relena couldn't help it, she gently brushed Heero's bangs from his forehead and kissed him gently, right in-between his eye brows. He sighed softly and cupped her cheek in one calloused palm.

"Nice. . . makin' moves on my boyfriend right in front of me." Duo's grin gave the lie to his words. "Left out in the cold. Story of my life."

Relena turned her head slowly, giving Duo plenty of time to worry. Then, with a devilish grin of her own, Relena attacked. Duo squawked and darted behind Heero who ruthlessly threw him to the lions, or in this case Relena. She tickled Duo until he begged for mercy and promised extravagant rewards if she'd stop. They wound up in Heero's lap together, giggling breathlesly and hugging him.

"Ahem! . . . I believe that is quite enough. If you three are through with your little display, Heero is due his meds and probably should return to his bed."

Nurse Jackson smiled at them as they sorted themselves out and started wheeling Heero back to the room.

"I'm sorry. We got a little out of control, but . . . well, I don't get a chance to just be a girl much. I'm afraid I got carried away."

"Well, . . . I'm sure there's no damage done. You two get him in bed while I get his meds."

So Duo and Relena reversed the process and got Heero into bed.

After taking his meds Heero struggled to stay awake, but only snapped to a few times, to realize that Duo and Relena were engaged in a political discussion that he wasn't capable of following in his present condition.

"Relena, the Perfect Peace Principle is all well and good in theory, . . . but in practice? Won't work. Too many people tout the theory, but practice something completely different. Total disarmament only means total helplessness, unless everybody disarms, and they're not going to do it. This whole peace is a spun sugar castle built on a cotton candy cloud. One rough touch and it'll crumble to dust."

Relena gave Duo a sad look. "I'm beginning to see the truth of what you say. Peace can't be maintained unless someone is willing to fight for it. It sounds so hypocritical, but . . . I just don't understand it at all."

"Human nature. You can't change it, so you just have to work within the boundaries of what is possible. It takes a thief to catch a thief. The best we can do is keep the mess contained so it doesn't touch the majority of the populace anymore than we can help."

Heero grumbled. "You two are making my head ache. You're not going to agree on this, so just drop it. Ok?"

Relena sighed. "Actually, Duo makes a lot of sense. I see things now that I didn't even six months ago. Preventers are going to get a lot looser leash. I'll see to it that some of the hawks serve my purposes rather than those of their sponsors. I'm getting very good at 'you scratch.' The old boy system can be manipulated to serve the public good, you just have to make sure you don't promise something you don't want to have to deliver. That's the hard parte. So. . . . I've got some dirty tricks up my sleeve and the first one is to rub the colonies' collective noses in how they stabbed you all in the back. That'll give me some leverage where I need it. I'm sorry, but I have to use you all again."

Heero shook his head, awake enough to understand that she didn't want to do what she was going to do.

"Whatever. I know you won't really . . . er . . . you won't make it worse, will you?"

Duo gave Relena an anxious look. She returned a reassuring one.

"No, actually, I think it will make your situation much better. I'm going to . . . or rather . . . Quatre is going to just . . . Um . . ."

Duo made a choking noise. "I think the phrase you're looking for is 'tell all.' Quatre has already discussed it with us. We're ok with it. Right Heero?"

Heero was drowsing off again and only gave a vague grunt.

Relena smiled, if Duo could laugh about it, then it was going to be fine. She glanced at her watch and snarled in a most lady like manner.

"Oh, fiddle. Look at the time. I have to go. I'm late for a thing already."

Duo shook Heero awake enough to say good by. When Relena kissed him on the cheek, he smiled gently at her and mumbled. "Bye. Mail me. Ok?"

Relena turned to Duo and waited, shifting a little uncomfortably, but Duo slid off the bed and gave her a whole hearted hug. With a quick peck on the cheek she turned to the door, but turned back with a mischievous look.

"Heero . . . a cuddle bug? Who'd a thunk it?"

With that, she shut the door on Duo's drop jawed gape.

Mrs. Jackson came in a little later to check on them and remake the bed. Heero couldn't really get comfortable with the regen unit, so he was restless and tore the bed up, so she came in and remade it from time to time.

As she was straightening the sheets, her cell phone started to ring. And heero started to scream.

It was a high-pitched scream of pure agony. Duo grabbed Heero and started running his hands over him trying to find the source of the pain.

"No, please. I'll be good . . . stop, please, please . . . I'm sorry, I'm sorry . . .whatever I did, I won't do it again! Make it stop! Please."

Heero writhed on the bed, clutching his head and begging.

Mrs Jackson took a second or two to realize that it had to be her phone. She usually just let it ring during work hours, letting it roll over, instead of answering it. Now she just plucked it out of her pocket and stamped it into scraps.

Heero went limp, tears running down his face, muscles twitching.

O"h, my god. Heero, what the hell was that? What happened? Who . . . talk to me." Duo gathered Heero into his arms and just held him.

Heero shuddered. "It was my controller. Her phone activated it. I . . . I never . . . thought I'd ever . . . it hurts so much. Duo, I . . . "

Duo hushed Heero softly, gently rubbing his back and rocking him a little.

Nurse Jackson mean while, had called for a doctor, who arrived on the run.

"All right. What's going on here? The nurse said something about a panic attack?"

Nurse Jackson corrected that misconception immediately.

"I said an agonal attack. But I think it's externally caused. He said something about a controller."

The doctor moved to examine Heero, he poked and prodded, then sighed. "Where was the pain localized?"

Heero had finally managed to wheeze enough air into his lungs and reactivate enough brain cells to speak coherently.

"It's an electronic controller. Here." Heero guided the doctor's fingers to the base of his skull. "It's implanted."

The doctor probed gently and snarled. "Fuck. I mean, . . . no, I do mean fuck. We need to get that out of you now. Right now. Before some other random signal activates it again. Nurse, get an x-ray cape immediately."

Mrs. Jackson brought the cape and the doctor wrapped it around Heero, covering the nape of his neck carefully and making sure he was covered clear to his nose.

Heero didn't resist, he seemed almost comatose; submissive, suggestible, obedient. Duo had never seen him this way. He didn't like it at all.

"What happened? What . . . why . . . damnit." Duo suddenly knew exactly what had happened. He remembered Heero saying he didn't want to be retrained again, it hurt too much. "You got to get that thing out of him now. You . . . "

The doctor was already on his phone making arrangements for the tests they needed to find out how to get the controller out of Heero without damaging him. He closed his phone and turned to Nurse Jackson, after issuing orders to her, he turned back to Duo.

"I need you to call Mr. Winner. I'll handle the Headmaster. We'll be taking him for tests immediately. This is . . . barbarous. If they've done what I think they have, its also a criminal matter. It's . . . well, until I have the unit in my hand, I'm not saying another word. But someone will probably wind up in prison over this."

Six hours later the doctor handed the control unit over to a Preventer agent with a report. Lady Une was having fits.

Duo, Quatre, Wufei and Trowa were all there from the beginning to the end. Mr. Compton had faxed permission to operate without question when the Doctor explained the situation.

"Ok. Gentlemen, here's the situation. This controller is . . . old. It's a wonder it didn't rupture and kill him. But none the less it's an abomination. They were invented to control large animals like breeding bulls and such." He went on to explain how the unit worked and ended, " so he was punished with it and . . . I'm just sick. To do such a thing to anyone, much less a child. He's had it since he was no more that ten or twelve. I've turned the whole matter over to Preventers. Whoever did this is in a lot of trouble."

Duo eyed Quatre and Quatre gave back a smirk that proved his angelic looks hide the soul of a shark. Duo smirked back.

"Ok guys, lock and load. Look out world, here we come."

I know it's been a while since I posted to this story. I'm sorry. But I'm working on two stories at once and I seem to work in arcs. Once I finish this arc it's back to To Serve. To those who've wondered if I've abandoned this story: No, I have not. I'll finish, I promise.

Thanks to : Caitlin, DHNightshadow, Ren, Rochan01, Alleyprowler, Lady Natasha, Silvermane 1, and anyone else I may have missed (I don't think I did, but just incase.) Your reviews mean a lot to me.


	12. In the Public Eye I

In the Public Eye

At first the media didn't do much but show footage of the fight with the bank robbers explaining that the men who'd foiled the robbery were ex-soldiers, more to follow.

Quatre was carefully engineering the whole thing. Building interest and curiosity until demand out stripped the possible outrage.

Heero was released from the hospital and sent to Allenville.

Duo took over day to day supervision of his department as did Wufei. Trowa and Quatre continued to run WEI.

Heero carefully maneuvered himself out of the van with help from one of the guards. He was still on crutches with a small regen unit to finish healing his ankle.

He was greeted by the warden.

"Hello, young man. I'm Warden Franklin. You'll find your stay here expedited by cooperation. I. . . ." The Warden did a double take. "How old are you?"

Heero who had been examining the premises with interest turned to look at the Warden. "You read my jacket?"

The Warden shrugged. "I prefer to make my observations first hand. Your record . . . most records we receive are either exaggerated or censored. Now, how old are you?"

Heero shrugged. "Depending on who you talk to I'm either seventeen or eighteen. The lawyers didn't bother to _look_ at me, I guess. My jacket says twenty something." Heero tucked his crutches under his arms and started to follow the man as he lead the way into the facility.

"I'm taking you to the infirmary. We will have to have a physical evaluation by our own therapist. She has the information on you. I notice you have a bandage on your neck, I thought your ankle was the problem."

"I had a surgery to remove some . . . illegal implants. It's all in my record. I'll be plain with you. I'm not happy about being here. I liked my therapist at Fitzroy so I'm a little put off by the change."

"I see. Your psychotherapist will discuss your concerns with you. Well, here we are. I'll leave you here. I think in your case it might be beneficial for me to read your jacket. Your sponsor will come for you when you're done. Your luggage was sent to your rooms."

Heero raised an eye brow at the word 'rooms' but didn't comment. He wasn't looking forward to another intake physical.

In the infirmary the tec instructed him to get on the examination table but when he started to remove his clothing the man just patted his hand and told him to forget that.

"We don't do a full body cavity search, just a poke and prod. Most of the guys who come here are guilty of the foul crime of getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Embezzlers, inside traders, that sort of thing. Now, how's that ankle."

"Aches. And my neck hurts. I have prescriptions for antibiotics and a pain killer. I don't take the pain meds unless I just can't stand it anymore. But the Doctor will have fits if I don't take the antibiotics. "

The Med. Tec looked over his copy of Heero's jacket and raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to see if I can't get you started on PT right away. It'll be uncomfortable but you have to cooperate . . . "

Heero held up a hand. "I know more about exercise than most therapists. I do tai chi, yoga and I'm not afraid to work out. In fact, I'd like to see the therapist who would try to make me do what I'll do on my own. But do as you think best, I'll cooperate. I don't want trouble."

The tec gave up, smiled at Heero and gave him a poke and prod examination, wrote in his chart then made a phone call.

Five minutes later Heero was groping for a weapon he didn't have and Milliardo Peacecraft was laughing softly.

"Oh my god. Heero Yuy, well, well."

Heero gave him a slightly shamefaced grimace and reached for his crutches.

"Do you need any help? I saw you on vid cast. That bit where the sheriff separated you and Maxwell was truly affecting." At Heero's growl he held up a hand. "Oh, I'm not being supercilious. It truly was. And totally real. I can tell."

Heero followed him down a hall way and marveled at the facility. If he hadn't known better, he'd have thought he was at a high end health spa.

"I though you were on Mars. What happened?"

"Relena thought it would be good for me to be out of the public eye for a while so I made the two-month trip to Mars, stayed there a month. The Administrator in Chief felt that I was attracting too much political attention and asked that I be relieved of my duties. It seems that I'm an inconvenience all round. So now I'm serving an indeterminate sentence here."

Heero gave him a sympathetic look. "When does indeterminate turn into something definite?"

Milliardo smirked at Heero. "As soon as my shrink says I'm rehabilitated."

Heero smirked back. "In other words, as soon as you're not a political hot potato anymore."

Milliardo nodded with a grimace, then changed the subject "You're friendly for someone I tried to kill."

"I tried to kill you right back. So, no hard feelings on my part. War is war. When it's over; it's over."

"My sentiments exactly. I'm glad you feel that way. We'll be thrown together a lot since I'm your sponsor. The Warden has no idea what he might have had on his hands. He's never dealt with anyone violent. This facility is for . . . "Milliardo pushed the door to Heero's new quarters open.

"Yeah, white collar criminals that wouldn't know a hand grenade from a paper weight." Heero stepped through and gaped. "Holy crap. This all mine? I don't share?"

Heero looked around the rooms in wonder. He had a suite of four rooms; there was a sitting room with a vid, stereo and computer, a kitchenette, a bedroom and a bathroom that wouldn't have surprised Quatre.

The sitting room was quite large, with a sitting area around the entertainment center, a small table near the kitchenette and a complete office setting. The desk was large enough to hold the computer monitor and still leave plenty of room for paperwork.

"No, you don't share. You change your own sheets and linens. Laundry is put in a basket in the bathroom closet. I'm sure all your clothes are labeled?" Milliardo caught Heero as he nearly tripped. The hard wood floors were slick and the throw rug had done exactly that. "However, I think you will need some help for a while. I'll arrange it."

Heero steadied himself and grumbled a little. He hated the clumsiness of his crutches. As Milliardo helped him get his feet back under himself, he noticed a bracelet on Milliardo's wrist.

"Nice jewelry. I didn't think you'd go in for that kind of thing."

Milliardo looked down at the bracelet. It was heavy and fit rather closely.

"Don't. But you'll get one too, I think."

Heero settled into a chair and raised one eyebrow at the Prince. "I'll just take it off and forget it."

Milliardo held out his wrist. The band was endless, it didn't come off.

"It's an electronic leash. I can go anywhere I like, within certain limits. If I go outside those limits, I'm picked up immediately. The consequences are . . . embarrassing."

Heero made a face. "I see. How humiliating. I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't be. I get to see Relena . . . on vid. I can go shopping at a very exclusive mall. I have unlimited finances. I'm just . . . not free. It could be much worse."

Heero motioned for Milliardo to sit, which he did with an elegant tweak at his pants legs to keep from spoiling the crease.

"And how is that?" Heero wished for a drink but wasn't sure where anything was or whether he should offer or not.

"There was a big push to get me executed. Relena managed to get my trial buried under the flap around yours. She's very good at taking advantage of openings like that without disturbing any status quo. So she managed to get four of you off by sacrificing one and that flap covered up my trial, in which my lawyers managed to convince the jury that Trieze was my commanding officer and I was just obeying him. Which is true but . . . somehow I feel unvindicated. My shrink says I have guilt issues." Milliardo stood abruptly. "Well, I'm sure you must be wanting to explore in privacy. If you need anything there's a call button on the wall by your bed and that remote has one as well. In your condition, I'd advise keeping it close."

After a few moments Heero rose and explored the kitchenette. It wasn't much, but most of the prisoners here had always had cooks so Heero couldn't see any of them managing much more than toast and scrambled eggs. If that.

Heero opened the fridge and found soda, ice tea (which made him grimace), and several types of juice. He settled for pomegranate with a spritz of seltzer. Then he realized that he couldn't carry the drink and walk, he needed both hands for the crutches and that didn't leave any for carrying the drink.

"Fuck. I'll be glad when I'm off these damn things." Heero grumbled and fussed his way through his drink and went to finish exploring the suite. He found sliding glass doors behind a set of floor to ceiling curtains and beyond that an enclosed garden with a small patio. Three other similar doors indicated that he shared it with other prisoners. He wasn't sure how he liked that, but decide to wait until he actually met the others before deciding.

He settled at his desk and booted up the computer. It was . . unacceptable. It was old and slow. He sighed and wished, not for the first time, for his own computer. His laptop looked like any students computer but hidden in that simple black case was one of the most powerful computers ever built. The only one more powerful was Duo's. He missed it. Almost as much as he missed Duo.

When he snapped to he realized that while he'd been daydreaming the computer had booted. There was a message on the screen already. It was a computerized, searchable handbook. He sat down to read.

As he was reading, the computer pinged with an incoming e-mail. Duo had sent him a welcome to the facility. He returned with a description of his suite and the information that one of his fellow prisoners was the Prince of Sanq. Duo sent back asking how he could be a prince if Relena wasn't Queen anymore.

Heero sighed, Duo would probably never understand the in's and out's of royalty, but he replied that both Peacecrafts had been royalty. Milliardo a prince and Relena a princess. Since Relena had become queen, then abdicated both her titles, she was still royalty by birth, but not by title. Milliardo had never abdicated, so he was still a prince. Heero wondered where that might go sooner or later.

Duo sent one last mail, telling Heero that he had to go to the obstacle course and run a bunch of recruits through.

Heero decided to see if he couldn't get the rest of his courses lined up. He'd decided to take a double major. Since he had all his humanities and liberal arts requirements out of the way that made it possible for him to carry eighteen hours. None of the degrees he was taking required labs, so he could squeeze in enough hours.

A guard passing in the hall heard the almost frantic sounding typing and knocked on the door.

"Hello? Sir? May I come in?"

Heero called his permission, not wanting to struggle to his feet and try to open the door for whoever it was.

The guard opened the door and stuck his head in. Seeing a young person instead of the middle-aged man he expected he did a double take and then hurried to him.

"You shouldn't be here. Where are your folks? I'll take you to . . . oh." Seeing the regen unit strapped to Heero's leg he stopped. "Do you have permission to be here?"

Heero sighed in irritation. it's ok to be irritated. It's not ok to act out that irritation by slugging someone "I'm a prisoner here. My name is Heero Winner-Yuy. How may I help you?"

The guard stepped back from the irritated glare, he knew he had definitely bitten off more than he could chew. "You're too young to be here. There's some kind of mistake. I'll see what's going on and be back in a little while. Don't leave the room."

Heero looked the guard over. He looked like a nice enough man so he just shrugged and went back to what he was doing. He had a complete semester of classes to plan and he had to decide which ones he felt safe testing out of and which ones he needed to take. So he was busy.

When his computer beeped and the screen changed to an 'Important Incoming Message' full screen warning. He just cursed and started hacking. He wasn't going to put up with much more. His patience was limited at times and this was one of them.

"It's my computer until farther notice. Give it back, damn you . . . " Heero typed furiously. "Now . . . cough it up." He made it into the bowels of the program and snarled, it was an all system communique and bypassing it would set off alarums he didn't want to have to work around.

So he waited for it to do its duty, deliver its message, and go away. It was a summons to all guests to come to the theater for an introduction. He sighed and levered himself up onto his crutches and started for the door. He wasn't too surprised when it popped open to admit his former enemy

"Well, it looks like they want to get the introductions out of the way at once." Milliardo looked Heero's denim fatigues over with a shake of his head. "Those simply won't do. You have to change quickly. Would you like me to help you?"

Heero nodded to the closet. "If you can find something more suitable, I'll be glad for the help."

Milliardo opened the door and grumbled "Oh, hell. Not a stitch that doesn't scream juvenile delinquent."

"Well, I am." Heero started for the door again with Milliardo pacing beside him

"You are _not_. You're a highly skilled and dedicated solder. It's a shame to waste your training and instincts this way. You should have gotten medals and . . . I'm not sure exactly what. But you certainly don't deserve to be locked up along with . . . well, me."

Heero waited while Milliardo opened the door to the theater for him. Then mumbled as he walked by. "Just hang on to your mask Lightening Count. Winner has the bit between his teeth, who knows what might happen."

Milliardo whispered right back. "Never mind that. Hold your head up and don't forget. . . you are more that they are. They are a bunch of foolish, greedy men who got caught doing naughty things. _We_ are soldiers."

Heero looked into the room with some dismay, then squared his shoulders and stepped into the room. He looked around and saw that it was indeed a theater, with a capacity of about forty.

To his relief there were only twenty-five men of various ages there. None of them were under thirty.

Heero was rather startled by the horrified, disapproving and, in some cases, disbelieving looks he was getting. There was a minor uproar, which the warden quickly squelched.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. Is this any way to impress our newest resident? Please, sit down while I introduce him." But grumbles of 'he's crippled,' 'so young,' and other, similar, remarks had to be quieted before the warden could complete his introduction.

He kept the introduction to a bare minimum, telling them only that Heero was there due to his physical needs.

"Thank you, gentlemen. Since you've all been nice enough to remain quiet during my introduction of Mr. Winner-Yuy, we'll have refreshments."

There were some laughs and the 'meeting' broke up into small, gossiping, groups. Milliardo approached Heero with a cup of tea and the suggestion that they stay seated and let interested parties come to them. Heero was glad he didn't have to stand around trying to 'do the pretty' as Milliardo called it.

After consuming three cups of tea, Heero told Milliardo he was going back to his rooms. Several men had stopped to talk with Heero and Milliardo, expressing varying degrees of dismay that Heero had been treated 'shabbily' and promising to do something for him.

Milliardo cautioned him about believing anything anyone told him. Heero asked him, "How can you tell when a politician is lying?" Milliardo raised an eye brow. "When his lips are moving."

"I see I don't have to caution you after all. They don't understand that those empty, . . . social promises hurt as badly as sometimes they do. Come along, I'll help you back to your rooms. I'd advise turning in early. The therapist will want to start your therapy tomorrow."

Heero nodded absently. He was trying to figure out how to change the dressing on his neck. He eyed Milliardo speculatively for a moment.

"What do you need? I'll be happy to help you if I can."

Milliardo hoped Heero would take him up on his offer. He was lonely here and didn't relate well to the other men. The one's he did relate to, didn't really understand him. They just remained polite so as not to antagonize Relena. Not the best basis for social interactions. Heero was a soldier just like him, even though they'd been on opposite sides.

"I need the dressing on my neck changed. I don't trust that pill pusher to do it. I'd rather do it myself but . . . "

"Say no more. I'll be happy to do it. I'm actually a well-trained field medic."

So they wound up in the bathroom with Heero sitting on a small stool. He felt a little nervous with Milliardo standing behind him but he realized he had to trust the man, until he proved he couldn't be trusted.

Milliardo took a deep breath and pulled the bandage off being careful not to disturb the stitches.

"I've only seen an incision like this for . . . " Milliardo clamped his lips together tightly.

Heero turned his head to look a Milliardo and whispered softly. "Zechs, it's ok. They took it out. I. . ."

"You were children. Damn them. I . . . "

Heero stood, turned around and poked him in the chest firmly. "And you were how old? Nineteen when it all started. Trained from early childhood to do your duty. I doubt that any of us really understood exactly what we were involved in until it was too late. Politicians and commanding officers, conditioning and constant training. We were all brain washed, plain and simple.

"Now are you going to change that or what?"

Milliardo changed the bandage quickly. He had a lot to think about and a few calls to make.

Duo lifted his bruised and bloody face to the camera and laughed. Then he spit right at it.

"You can kill me but you can't kill the movement. People want to be free. It's even a song."

The Oz guards punched him until he fell and the tape faded out when they started kicking him.

"Mr. Maxwell, that was . . . I'm speechless. That was the most disgusting display of . . . "

Duo smiled at the Hostess gently. "You're stammering. It's ok. I survived. It was war."

The hostess looked suitably horrified. "But you . . . you were so young. How old were you?"

Duo shrugged, then turned back to the screen which was showing him being dragged to the foot of Deathscythe and chained to a pillory.

"I'm not quite sure. Somewhere around fifteen."

"You don't know how old you are? Come now, that's impossible. How could you not know?"

"I'm an orphan. I don't remember much before I found myself on the docks at L2-0347."

"I see. Well, you were going to take us on a tour of the facility. We'll continue the interview as we go, if you don't mind."

The hostess stood and Duo nodded to the camera man as he walked by. "I don't mind. You going to keep the camera running? And what the hell is your name. No one bothered to introduce us. Quatre just bunged me in the door and took off."

"Well, I had hoped to speak to all four of you and then cut footage gleaned from the war files with large slices of these interviews. Mr Winner has some ideas I like. So, if you don't mind, we'll just continue the tour and interview."

Duo lead the way into the grounds, answering questions and reviewing footage as they went. He wanted to get his hands on the projection unit she was using. It was small and used some sort of laser-produced screen

"You seem interested in my vid unit. It's brand new on the market. Quite a feather in WEI's cap, if I may say so."

Duo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm a gadget freak. Love anything new. I'd love to take that apart to see what makes it tick."

Miss. Hamilton smiled at Duo. "Hands off buster. Mine. Buy your own."

They laughed together and she decided that this young man wasn't nearly as dangerous as the competition had made him out to be.

As the walked down the hall Duo pointed out the cafeteria and several other points of interest.

When they came to the gym Duo stiffened. A crowd had gathered around two men who were struggling on the mats. A big man had a much smaller man pinned and was choking him hard.

"Hey! Break it up!" Duo waded into the crowd and shoved several men aside. He wrapped his arm around the big mans neck and jerked. Ignoring the now flat on his back man, he turned to the smaller man and checked him over. He was gasping for air, but nodded at Duo's 'you ok.?'

Duo scanned the crowd with a furious look. "Ok, people. You do realize that he could have crushed his larynx. In that case, you would have had about six minutes to do something to save his life." The cameraman was going mad trying to keep Duo in the frame. Duo's sneer was magnificent. "I see you didn't. Everybody, except him, go to the nearest instructor and explain exactly what was going on. Elect a spokesman. Go." he turned to the choker. "You knew. Don't tell me you didn't. He clapped out. I saw him." The man started to say something smart. "Don't talk, just pack your shit and git."

Then Miss Hamilton turned to Duo. "Was that bad? I thought you were supposed to learn to fight."

"No, they're supposed to learn to protect WEI personnel and property. Using the least force necessary. Most of these people will never touch a gun outside of training. There are all kinds of other ways to apprehend criminals, intruders and bothersome . . . "Duo dodged the camera man "cameramen." But he smiled at the man.

"I see. So that was . . ."

"Uncalled for and stupid. The man has been hanging on by a thread for weeks. This last little display was too much. He'll never learn to tone it down to appropriate levels. He's all or nothing. Not good at all."

Duo opened the door and let the cameraman go first

"And you're an expert? I thought you just . . . " Duo took firm hold of the interview.

"I _am_ an expert. I know exactly how much force to apply to do everything from knock a person down to break their neck. Our philosophy is to apply the _least_ amount of force to get the job done. Start out with a slap and escalate until the desired effect is achieved. We're the experts and I expect my people to act in an appropriate manner at all times. That was just _too_ overboard. What would he do if he got excited? _Not_ something I want to contemplate."

Duo led the way to the obstacle course and showed Miss Hamilton around that. They saw some more clips of Duo which upset the woman. Duo wondered why he was showing her clips, but Quatre had told him exactly what to do so he was doing it.

"Excuse me. _Damnit_."

Duo hurried over to someone on a wall. "Hey! I"m gonna get up close and personal with you. Don't do something I won't like." With that he put both hands on the persons' gluteus maximus and shoved up, neatly dodging the flailing feet.

The woman scrambled to the top of the wall and turned to look back. Her red, sweaty face turned scarlet as she realized who Duo was.

"Thanks, Boss. I . ."

Duo held up his hand to silence her. "Never mind that. Where's your partner?"

"Oh, he went ahead . . . "

Duo gave her a hard look which the camera man caught perfectly. "Ok . . . he abandoned me."

"Tell the instructor. Never mind, here he comes."

A burly crew cut man ran up, snarling, "I suppose you know you got me in trouble "

Duo interrupted sharply. "No, you got yourself in trouble. This course is supposed to teach team work, cement the relationship between partners. You don't get it at all."

Duo eyed the woman and decided. It was obvious that she didn't trust him at all. He glanced around and saw another woman running back along the track. She skidded to a halt about ten feet away and stood shifting from foot to foot.

"You. Come here. You came back for her . . . why?"

"I . . .he . . . ummm. I don't what to get anyone in trouble. But . . . he has a bad habit of letting his partners hang. She's his third. I'm sorry, Joan. I . . . "

"That's enough." Duo looked around. "Where's your pardner?"

"She got the boot. Lost her temper."

"Ok, . . . you two partner." Duo pointed to the two women. Then he turned to the man "Pack your shit and git."

"You seem to have a lot of influence around here. That man looked scared of you. You're just a boy."

Duo smiled, one of his sunny, cheerful grins, and shook his head. "Yes, I'm seventeen. But I'm also a Gundam pilot. We all trained for years to do what we did. I'm Duo Maxwell. I'm also Shinigami. We're not wild eyed, crazy, terroristic maniacs. We did what we were told to do. What we were told was necessary to end war forever."

The reporter sighed, she hadn't known what she was getting into. She wasn't sure she could do this. They were all children and very old men. She forged on.

"I'd like to know how you can just tell grown men to pack up and leave."

"I'm Head of the Department. I'm responsible for training personnel. Quatre started out giving me the job of ensuring his personal protection. But WEI is huge and spread out all over ESUN. With the break down of law enforcement engendered by the Perfect Peace Principles borderless philosophy, the company feels that it is necessary to police itself. So Quatre, Wufei, Trowa and I got together and established Winner Enterprises Incorporated Internal Security Division. And I'm Department Head, besides, I can whip any ten of them."

The next clip Duo showed her was of Wufei helping him learn to control his breathing. In the cell where Oz nearly suffocated them.

"That's just horrible. They turned off the air vents? I. . . Oh my."

Duo patted her on the shoulder. "Speechless again? Come on. I think I've tortured you enough. I'll introduce you to your next interview."

Duo led them into a very elegant Chinese style garden.

"Chang Wufei" Duo bowed, Wufei took off his gold wire framed glasses and bowed back. "This is Miss Hamilton and her cameraman. I never got his name, I'm sorry."

Wufei bowed to the reported and cameraman. "Pleased to meet you." He made an inviting motion with his hand. "Please, be seated."

Duo reached into his pocket and handed Wufei a small flat projection unit.

"Here. Happy anniversary."

Wufei took the object and placed it on the table. At the push of a button a 3-D still was projected above it. It was a picture of a young Chinese girl. The voice was Duo's, the poem Chinese.

_How many tears  
Criss-cross your cheeks and run across your face!  
Don't try to speak when worry makes you weep,  
Nor play the flute when it will bring your tears,  
Or surely then your heart will break.  
--Li Yu  
_

Wufei caressed the small device with one finger. "This is very nice. Thank you, Duo."

The reporter gently inserted herself, careful not to break the mood. "Who is the young lady? A friend?"

Wufei turned the projector off, then slipped it into his breast pocket. "My wife."

Miss Hamilton gave a shocked gasp. "Your wife? But you're . . ."

"Seventeen. We were married by proxy when we were ten, began holding household at twelve. Under the auspices of my parents of course."

"Ah. An arranged marriage. She's very beautiful."

Wufei ducked his head. "Yes, my Nataku was beautiful. I didn't value her as I should have."

"You should tell her. Where is she?"

"I"m a widower. She died, was killed by the Alliance when we were both fourteen. She was to have been the pilot of Shenlong, not me."

Duo, standing behind Miss Hamilton, gave Wufei a quick salute and faded away.

"But I thought you trained for years to pilot the Gundam?"

"Oh, I was a scholar. I have a degree in ancient Chinese poetry. And another in computer sciences. I got both of them before I became a pilot. I was just a training partner for Merain. Then she got herself killed and I . . . I went a little mad I think. I wanted revenge for her and all the other people who were killed on L5. So I became a Gundam pilot."

Miss Hamilton put on a sympathetic face and stepped right into Quatre's trap.

"It must have been hard to know that she had been killed."

Wufei bit his barely quivering lip. "She wanted to rest in a special field. I took her there when I realized there was no hope of saving her. She died in my arms. It was very hard."

"OH. Oh. She. . . no wonder you were so . . . fierce. That's just horrible."

"No. The horrible part was that she was so very much better than I. She wanted justice for the Colonies. I said I wanted justice, but all I really wanted was revenge. Very sad. . . . tea?"

"No, thank you. You said it is your anniversary? How many years would it have been?"

Wufei gave Miss Hamilton a slightly disgusted look. "We were married when we were ten, but I'd known her all my life. I'm seventeen now. So . . . doing the math. It's my seventh anniversary and the third of her death. Less a month or so."

"I see. Um m m . . . You seem to get along with Mr Maxwell. I thought you two didn't get along very well."

Wufei picked up a small projector and turned it on. It started showing surveillance footage of him and Duo dying in the small chamber where Oz had shut off the air. He was softly leading Duo through the breathing exercise that was to save them both.

"I was filled with hate and righteous anger. I couldn't see how someone so frivolous could possibly aid the cause of Colonial Freedom. I soon learned that he is a warrior of considerable skill. He's just . . . I'm not sure how to explain it exactly. It's just his personality. But despite the rather outrageous side of him, you really don't want to see Shinigami, things go to hell rather quickly."

"I see. You're all so young. It's . . ."

"We were never allowed to be young. Our controllers made us warriors. We are older in experience than I like to think."

"Well, that's one way to look at it. And I think a better one. None of you seem like the lunatics the prosecution made you out to be. And you all had a controller? What's that?"

Wufei stood up and started to walk through the garden. "My controller was O. He trained me, sent me my objectives and any information he deemed necessary for me to accomplish it. He gave me orders."

"I see. A father figure." They stopped to admire a tree peony in bloom.

"No, unlike Duo, and Heero. I had a father, and a mother. I was actually quite sheltered. As the heir to the Chang Clan I was protected from quite a bit of . . . disorder. That's one reason it was such a shock to me when L5-Chang was attacked."

"Oh. But I understood that all of you had controllers who were your surrogate fathers."

Wufei turned to the camera and snarled. "The professors were interested in one thing. The accomplishment of their objectives. We were tools, nothing more. In fact, Quan Yin save me from a father figure like J. Excuse me. I'm getting more upset than I thought. Here is Trowa. He'll take you on the next leg of your tour."

Trowa just patted Wufei on the shoulder and motioned for the two reporters to follow him. They did but not before the camera man got a shot of Wufei holding the vid cupped in the palms of his hands, watching the slowly rotating picture with tears trickling down his cheeks.

"Come away. Now." Trowa took Miss Hamilton gently by the arm and led her down the path away from Wufei. A quick nod to someone in the shadows and he herded them into the next room of the garden and on to another vid clip.

The clip was of Trowa stripped to the waist, tied to a tank tread.

"Did you take it?" The voice was stern and cold. Obviously adult to Trowa's much younger self.

"Yes" Trowa's voice trembled slightly.

"Why?"

"I was hungry." Trowa seemed resigned to his fate whatever it was.

"Ten lashes. Don't hold back."

The punishment was duly administered and when the ropes were cut Trowa fell to the muddy ground and was left to his own devices.

"Oh my god. But what did you steal to be given such a beating. That's . . how old were you?"

"I think I was ten or so. I'm an orphan so I'm not quite sure, but not more than twelve. I stole a fist of bread."

"Bread? You stole bread and that. . . why didn't your guardian stop them?"

"I didn't have one. I was just Nanashi. No name. Hey, boy. Some of the men took me under their wing in a casual sort of way. But only after I proved that I was useful for more than running for tea or taking messages back and forth. I never had a real father figure or any friends . . . Just me. Until I hooked up with the others. We sort of made a family."

"You had a trainer. Didn't you?"

Trowa lead them into a library, entering through old fashioned patio doors.

"No, I'd been working on the Gundam. It was easier for me to do some of the work because I could crawl into the guts easier. I trained myself by testing the work. The man who was supposed to pilot got himself killed and I took his place."

"How did he get killed?"

Trowa gave her a flat hard look. "I killed him when he tried to rape me. I'm not anybody's fuck toy. Sorry, you'll have to beep that."

"No, we won't. This isn't going to be shown at the early slot. It's too hot. He tried to rape you? That's . . . you've all endured so much. I just don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything. It's better. We are what we are. We made you peace, now you can . . . ignore us. . . throw us away. . . do what ever you want. We can't do much to stop you, just endure as we always have. Think about it."

"I am. And I don't like what I'm thinking at all. I understand that Mr. Winner is too busy to see me but he has provided a series of clips for our use."

Trowa got them seated in comfortable chairs in the elegant room.

"Yes, he's in a meeting with some of his sisters. It's unfortunate. They want to take the company away from him, but due to his father's will, it's impossible. I think Mr. Winner ,Sr. knew what might happen. In his culture women are considered . . . less than men. It's so archaic that it's ridiculous. But they weren't trained to handle a company as vast and complicated as WEI ,Quatre was. Unfortunately for them, and the investors, employees and dependants, towns and colonies, he's seriously considering turning the whole mess over to them and the devil take the hind most."

"But. If they are more capable than he is, why not?"

Trowa shook his head. "I don't understand why you don't listen. He's the only one who really understands all the ramifications of actions the company takes. He's been trained since birth to do this. That's why he was our chief strategist. He can see in a moment all the effects of something. The stocks will fall like a comet. The investors are already selling out at distressingly low prices. I'm buying all the stock I can get my hands on. So are the rest of us."

"You can't support such a large company that way."

"Not trying to. We're all snatching up all the stock we can as an investment. We don't have any income. No pay, no retirement, nothing. So we have to look out for ourselves."

"Oh, make hay while the sun shines, that sort of thing. Wait, you said you didn't get payed anything?"

"No. We weren't expected to live out six weeks. We were supposed to be martyrs to the cause. We fooled them, now they just ignore us. Except for Heero."

"Yes, I . . . there was something but it won't come. I'd like to interview Heero Yuy. Where is he?"

Trowa gave her a funny look. "They really managed to gloss over that, didn't they? For all the flap in the media; screaming for our execution, imprisonment or whatever. They managed to hide our ages and Heero's sentence. I don't understand how people can be so damn oblivious."

"I"m sorry. I don't understand. Where is he?

"In prison. He got two ten year sentences. For being our commanding officer. He lost the draw."

Miss Hamilton committed the ultimate sin for a reporter, she dropped her microphone. Trowa bent down and picked it up for her.

"What draw? What prison? I . . . this is . . . " The poor lady stammered to a halt.

"We drew straws for who would take the hit. Accept responsibility for all of us. Heero . . . I'll swear he fixed the draw somehow, drew short straw. So he got sentenced under the commanding officers only resolution."

"But what about your . . . controllers. Why didn't they just try them?"

"They're all dead. The people needed a scape goat. So Heero threw himself to the wolves. He said it wouldn't be too bad for him. Because of his training you see."

A servant came in with a tray of refreshments. Trowa poured a cup of tea and handed it to Mis Hamilton, then he poured two more breaking convention by recognizing the camera man was actually there.

Then he went on to give a ruthlessly factual account of Heero's training, showing several clips of him exercising until he dropped in exhaustion. Then he fired the parting shot.

The clip was obviously taken from some sort of training record. Heero was standing in a bare room. There was nothing in the room; not a chair, a table, or even a mattress. He was just standing, waiting for something. Then he started to shake and a voice from somewhere started speaking.

"Don't make a sound. Take your punishment like a man."

Heero shook harder. Trembling, staggering; staying on his feet by main force of will.

"Don't fall. Don't speak. You're not worthy. You failed. You'll be retrained. You'll learn."

Heero fell writhing to the floor.

"Stand up. If you're not on your feet by the count of three, the punishment will be increased by two minutes."

Heero staggered to his feet and managed to stay there for the rest of his punishment. Then he collapsed, obviously unconscious.

Trowa's voice interrupted the reporter's question before it was begun. "He was thirteen."

Miss Hamilton swallowed her tears. "Damn I'm glad this isn't a live feed. Could I have some more tea?"

Trowa poured her more tea and gave her a sandwich. He allowed her time to get herself back together, then just picked up his flute. He started to play, then heard Quatre start. He glanced over to see Quatre walking in the door with his violin under his chin.

They played several tunes then Quatre sat down next to Trowa.

"I'm so glad I got a chance to speak to you. I've several things I'd like to point out. But I'm sure you have questions for me."

"Yes. First, how did your meeting go, . . . if you can talk about it."

Quatre gave her one of his particularly snarky smiles. "It went just about as I thought it would. My sisters now realize that they have no chance of taking control of WEI. It's not possible, . . er . . since I own approximately 72 of the voting stock they're more or less out of the loop."

"Who owns the rest?"

"Well. . . . Trowa owns 2, my sister Iria owns 4 and the Chang clan owns 5. So I control, directly or indirectly, 78 of the stocks. Possibly more since quite a few people have been selling out, and I've been buying what Duo doesn't. People don't quite understand some things that I'd like to make perfectly clear."

Quatre sipped his tea and changed before their eyes. He went from a smiling young man to a cold eyed, calculating, powerful executive in the blink of an eye.

"I am excessively rich. I have a personal fortune which is untouchable. It's large enough to sustain all five of us in a life style that can only be called excessive for well over twice our projected lifetimes. And that's only spending the interest.

"I intend to use most of it to expand WEI for the benefit of the colonies and earth. But if I am pushed, I'll just build a colony and move into it. With my friends. We'll make a world of our own, excluding every thing and everyone we don't like. I don't want to do that. It's a bit extreme. I'd rather use that money to rebuild the colonies I destroyed and L5 as well. It all depends on what I'm allowed. I won't tolerate interference with my control of my self, my company, my income. If I'm old enough to risk my life, I'm old enough to control it. We tried to work within the confines of ESUN, but push too hard and we'll push right back.

"I wasn't aware of some of the things I could do until lately, but now that I do know . . . I'd rather get things done within the confines of the law, but it's not necessary. I do have the power to force the issue."

Miss Hamilton knew she was going to have to cut this, but she shivered at the thought of making this stern faced young CEO truly angry. Not good.

Quatre concluded the interview with offers of tea and cake and a sweet smile that belied his earlier words.

The media grabbed the interviews and vid clips and plastered them all over everywhere.

Milliardo, watching the news with Heero, covered his eyes with one hand and started laughing. Heero gave him a startled look.

"He's blown the lid off it now. Relena so wanted me to stay out of the public eye."


	13. In the Public Eye II

The Public Eye II

The media frenzy increased in intensity in the next few days spurred on by Trowa's sad eyed commentaries on the ever more hard core footage. Public outrage was at full cry when the final footage was shown.

This consisted of a simple showing of the wanted posters on all of them. The colonies were embarrassed, ESUN was outraged, the common man wanted 'Justice'.

Relena solemnly promised that everything would be looked into.

The first benefit of all this uproar was that the travel interdict was lifted. They no longer had to apply for travel permits.

Quatre took advantage of this to take Trowa and go to L4 for extended visits to all the sisters who had supported him in his fight against the six or so who wanted control of WEI. Relena was there to see him off. She whispered in his ear during their social kiss and he patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about him I've got it covered."

Relena whispered back. "I just hope Heero doesn't strangle him."

Heero sat at his computer and grumbled. He really wanted his laptop, but the facility didn't allow personal computers. All computers had to be connected to the facility net work.

"Come on, come on. Do _not _freeze on me." Of course it did. "Nooooo. I've got two hours of work in there. Damnit. Glad I saved, like, three minutes ago. Fucking useless piece of shit damn door stop." Heero gave in to his more atavistic urges and snapped the keyboard into bits with quick flexes of powerful fingers. "Damnit, this is ridiculous. I've got classes to keep up with. I can't afford for some cheap piece of crap to hold up production. I . . .fucking come the hell in already." The gentile tapping at the door was an added irritation.

Heero turned to see Milliardo standing in the doorway with one eyebrow raised. He couldn't even convince himself to be chagrined.

"This piece of crap is unacceptable. I've got some complicated blueprints to do for my Colonial Design class and this . . . door stop won't do. I need a graphic plotter and a . . . " Heero clamped his lips shut at Milliardo's up raised hand.

"I don't need to know what complicated and esoteric piece of equipment you need for your class. Just write an e-mail to the Warden and you'll have it next day. I'm here because you're late for therapy. Come on. Shut that thing down and I'll show you to the therapy unit."

Heero reached over, picked up a microphone, and snapped, "Shut down." Turning to Milliardo, he sheepishly pointed to the keyboard. "Lucky I put audio protocols in place. I'm not usualy destructive but this thing would try the patience of a saint. Which I'm not . . . in case you hadn't noticed."

Milliardo smirked. "I've noticed. Come on. You don't want to antagonize Miss O'Donnell first thing. She can be quite . . . strict. Do you need help?"

Heero was on his feet finally, he couldn't believe how hard it was for him to use crutches. He was coordinated and strong, so it should be a lot easier than it was.

"Only if I'm supposed to bring something. If I get any more awkward on these things, I'll look suicidal."

Milliardo shook his head. "You need to change into something with a little more ease, like sweats. I'll get them for you if you like."

Heero just nodded and waited while Milliardo retrieved sweats from his closet, he had one set, silk screened with 'property of Fitzroy'

"I feel like a complete dork. I can't get use to these crutches, I'm all . . . arms and legs." Heero started stripping down to change into the sweats. Milliardo started to turn his back then stood shocked to his core as he saw the scars on Heero's torso. "What?" Heero looked down. "You think I self-destructed without consequences?"

Milliardo closed his mouth and then apologized. "I'm sorry . . . I thought you would have had something done about them by now."

"Why? I'm functional. That's all that counts. Soldiers have scars. Internal and external." Heero tugged the pants up and reached to put the regen unit back on his leg. "I think I'll leave this off. I can't exercise in it, so it can just stay there. Orders be damned." He tossed it on the dresser instead.

Heero yanked the shirt on over his head and started after Milliardo. He led the way out the door and onto a path through a very nice garden. They took their time so that Heero wouldn't fall. Heero admired the garden and wished he could walk in it on his own.

"You're free to walk in the gardens anytime you want. You see the walls over there? You're not allowed past them. Anything inside the walls is fair game. There's even a stable. If you ride all you have to do is speak to the stableman to set up a time."

Milliardo opened the door for Heero and followed him in then introduced him to Miss O'Donnell. "I"ll leave you two to enjoy each others company."

Heero settled into the chair and listened as Miss O'Donnell gave him the 'you have to put some effort into it' lecture, or started to.

"Ma'am, I know more about therapy than most people my age. All you have to do is show me which exercises you think I should do. I'll take it from there. I'm exceptionally strong and your projected regimen will fall far short of what I actually have to do to bring this leg back to optimum. But . . ."

Miss O'Donnell handed him the clipboard silently. He looked the outline over carefully and realized that the therapist had access to records that had been classified until recently.

"I see that you have seen at least some of my training records. This outline is nearly perfect for me. And only me. Anyone else who tried to keep that schedule would be flat on their back in no time."

"Yes. Frankly I'm appalled. Anyone who would put a child through some of the things you were forced into is . . . I'm a lady so I'll shut up now."

Heero grunted, he just wanted to get through this session and find his lunch. He was hungry as breakfast had consisted of dry cereal and instant coffee.

After an hour of work, Heero was sweating and Miss O'Donnell was wondering if Heero wasn't just a bit masochistic. He'd already completed the exercises necessary to restore function to his leg and was almost done with another series of exercises intended to support his return to normal activities. If what you considered normal was being ready to perform an iron man at a moment's notice.

"You could stop and rest." Heero stopped so suddenly that the machine protested, making an odd crunching noise. "It's not like it's a matter of life and death . . . er . . . I."

But Heero was laying on the machine with an arrested look on his face. Thinking furiously, he examined all the ramifications of not finishing his intended routine.

"I think I'm done for the day. I'll have to re-evaluate my intended program. I'd like your advice, if you don't mind." At Miss O'Donnell's nod, Heero continued. "Should I go for the quick fix, the fastest route to optimum performance, or for the best? Do I have time to do it truly right? Or am I going to have to . . . "

Miss O'Donnell was shaking her head, so Heero shut up and waited for her to gather her thoughts.

"You have all the time you need to do it right. If you rush too much, you're going to suffer for it later. If you do it right, you'll come out of this better than you were. So take the time to do it right, ok?"

Heero reached for a towel and sighed. "I'll take it easy and do it right. It's a luxury I never had before. Thank you for your patience. I know I'm not a very good patient, but I've had to take care of myself for so long I'm not sure how to act when someone wants to take care of me. Duo is always fussing at me for it. Quatre too. Come to think of it, even Wufei gives me a hard time."

After looking around, Miss O'Donnell asked where the regen unit was, and, when Heero told her he'd left it in the room, she asked him to be sure to bring it to her next day. He didn't need it anymore and she had to send it back to the hospital.

"Now, I want you to be very careful for a while longer. I don't want you showering alone. If you fall and rebreak . . ."

"Yes, if one more person tells me that, I'm going to have a fit. I'll ask Merquise to stay with me. Can I go now?"

At her 'Yes. Go, Mr. Cranky Pants' he gathered up the much hated crutches and headed for the door. He found it easier to maneuver the crutches without the box of the regen unit strapped to him.

He tapped carefully on Milliardo's door. When he answered, bare-chested and wearing nothing else but jeans, Heero told him that he needed him to stay while he showered, just in case. Milliardo nodded and reached for a t-shirt.

"I'm right behind you. I'll just wait in the other room. Or should I come in the bathroom?"

Heero considered for a moment, then said, "You better come in the bathroom. I'm taking a shower. I hate baths. If I start to fall, what good are you going to be clear in the other room?"

Milliardo, who loved soaking in a tub, wondered why Heero hated baths, so he asked.

"It's too easy to get pushed under, and why would you want to sit in the dirt you just washed off? Doesn't make sense."

Heero took a shower and when he stepped out onto the bathmat found out that he was still clumsy. His newly healed leg still wasn't up to antics, so he slipped, wound up clutched to Milliardo's chest, and taught him a new swear word.

"What's Shimatta? Let me sit you on this stool."

Heero flushed, his cheeks pinking slightly. "It's Japanese for shit. Hand me another towel please."

Milliardo reached into the linen closet for a towel and caught his hair on the hinge of the folding door. When he straightened up and pulled back he pulled his hair quite hard.

"Ow! Damnit. I swear, if it wasn't family tradition, I'd cut this mess. It gets caught in things, it's all over the bed, in my mouth. Gah!"

Heero hobbled over and caught Milliardo by the back of the head, pushing him back into the closet and deftly disentangling the offending lock of hair.

"Here. Why don't you braid it? I never understood that."

While Heero dressed Milliardo explained that his long hair was symbolic of his family's dedication to justice and freedom, therefor he didn't braid it or tie it. Heero gave him back a rather nasty smirk.

"Well, I have a thought. You're not free. Very nice prison, but a prison none the less. Braid it. Tight. Symbolic of the fact that you're not free. Rub their noses in it. You're in the same boat I'm in. Quatre has something up his sleeve and this might help us both." Heero settled back on the stool, motioned for Milliardo to kneel between his knees and waited.

Milliardo dropped to his knees and scooted back against Heero. Heero leaned over to retrieved a hair brush and an elastic tie from his kit. He started brushing Milliardo's hair and found a tangle just under and behind his left ear. He spent some time carefully working the tangle out and found himself teary eyed.

Milliardo balanced on the balls of his feet and swivelled to see Heero sitting with his hands over his face gasping for breath. He took Heero's hands in one of his and stroked his arm until he relaxed.

"Shhh. Hush. It's ok. I understand. You miss him something terrible, don't you. I'm so sorry. I'll go now. You don't have to do this."

Milliardo palmed the tears off Heero's cheeks gently and started to get up. Heero stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes I do. I'm not going to be defeated by a hank of hair. It's just . . . shit." Heero found himself being hugged against a strong, broad chest. After a few minutes of silent comfort he sighed, pushed away, and gave Milliardo a slightly diffident look. " Aamm . . . Duo and I . . . we're a couple. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes. No one with eyes to see could think other wise. I'm in a committed relationship myself. I hope you . . . don't get the wrong idea. . . . " Milliardo eyed Heero's red face. "I can see that you did. I meant nothing more than comfort. I'm sorry if you were . . ."

Heero got himself together, picked the brush back up and smiled. "Well, that was completely embarrassing. Forget it happened, please. I'm . . . not good at interpersonal relationships, yet. I'm getting better, but I still get confused sometimes."

Milliardo smiled back at Heero. "We all do. You're doing quite well. As to the hug, Miss Noin will understand. And you need comfort, so do I. I mean nothing more than the same comfort you get from say, Quatre or one of the others, excepting Duo. If that is acceptable to you of course."

Heero sighed, thought for a moment then admitted that it would be nice.

"Get back there. I'm finishing that braid. Why don't you do it yourself? I don't mind, but you can't . . . well, you could. But you need to be able to do it yourself."

Milliardo blushed so hard the back of his neck got red. "I never braided it before, against tradition you know. Now that I want to, I don't know how. If you will help me with it for a while, I'll learn to do it myself. It's a very visible statement. Thanks for the idea." Milliardo sighed softly. "That feels so good. In all my life no one ever brushed my hair for me that I remember. I've taken care of it by myself since Sanq fell."

Heero efficiently braided the silken mass into a tight braid and snapped the elastic around the end. He braided it much tighter than he would Duo's and then eyed the ragged bangs dangling in Milliardo's eyes and brushing against his cheeks. He decided the contrast of the loose locks and tight braid made the right statement.

"There. That ought to hold it."

Milliardo eyed it doubtfully, his hair was thick and heavy and he'd seen some bands that he wouldn't trust for more than a few seconds.

"You sure? I'd hate for all your work to be wasted. Thank you for brushing it out by the way. I've been thinking seriously about cutting it off. But I really hate to do that. It's just that it's so much trouble to mess with, with all my other duties. Now that I'm not a . . . an officer, I don't have to create a mystique. Well, just every thing is different now, so why not that."

"Because that would be giving in to them. What you did was wrong as far as I'm concerned, but you did your duty as you saw it, without malice . . . unlike some. Oh, and you are still Prince of Sanq, as far as I know. So, you shouldn't be here. I'd like to know what Relena and Quatre are up to . . . but let sleeping dogs lie as Duo would say.

"And I'm sure it'll hold. It's one of Duo's. I kept a bunch in my kit for him. He can't keep track of them. They're all over the place. So. . . . here. I'll give you some of these and you need a different brush from the one you're using. Get one of those big paddle shaped ones and ditch that military issue piece of shit you're using now."

Milliardo made mental notes, stuffing the proffered ties into a pocket.

Then a sudden rumbling noise startled them both. Heero flushed I'm doing a lot of that lately and Milliardo blinked.

"What did you have for breakfast? I didn't see you in the cafeteria. So . . . "

Heero shrugged dismissively. "Dry cereal and instant coffee. No one's replenished my sundries. It's ok. I've been avoiding the cafeteria and eating in my quarters, but I'd really like a good lunch. " Another rumble seconded that idea.

"That's not enough food for a growing, or healing, boy." Milliardo eyed the breadth of Heero's shoulders "and I have a feeling you're doing both. And those clothes." Milliardo shuddered. "After lunch we're going to the mall. If you're going to be seen with me, you're going to dress a lot better than prison fatigues. Come on."

Heero started to say something repressive about fatigues being all he needed, then he thought 'but are they all I want? Quatre is going to want to take me places. Who better to teach me how to dress than him.'

"Ok. What's for lunch? And when we go shopping, who's going to pay. I don't have a lot of money. Quatre promised me a job when I get out, but for now I'm . . . well, impoverished doesn't quite cover it."

Milliardo waved a negligent hand and opened the door to the cafeteria. Heero blinked and then sighed, it looked like a high class restaurant. He hated this kind of place. They didn't serve anything he liked, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"I'll pay for anything you want and possibly some things you don't. If you offer to pay me back I'll be quite offended. I have few pleasures and spending my income is one of them. I have so few people to spend it on that the interest is beginning to accumulate at an outrageous pace. Sit here." Milliardo motioned to a table in a small alcove. " It's my favorite. You'll find some of my quirks quite amusing."

Heero examined the alcove as he sat. No one could get behind either of them and they had a good view of the entire room. He couldn't help it, he burst out laughing.

"Oh, shit. Duo will go out of his mind." Heero palmed his streaming eyes. "That's if we can have visitors. If it's possible, I'd like to have all my friends for lunch or dinner some day."

"We can have up to six guests at a time for lunch only. You have to make reservations in advance but there's not much trouble. They have to be approved but I don't see any problem with the other pilots."

A waiter approached and slapped menus down on the table, dumped two glasses of water in front of them and stalked off.

Heero raised an eyebrow.

Milliardo tapped the table with impatient fingers.

"Perhaps I should sit somewhere else." Heero assumed the dislike was aimed at him.

"If you'd like. I'll take you over and introduce you to Mr. Pool. He's an accountant. Money laundering charge. Very nice. Kind of foolish. Hates political conversation. You won't be annoyed with this foolishness seated with him."

Milliardo started to rise to his feet but Heero shook his head. "You mean that little display is something you're subjected to at every meal."

"Yes. Attempting to blow up Earth seems to upset people somehow. No one wants to understand the effects of Zero. I'll never live it down. The main reason Relena is having trouble getting me released is no one wants to take . . . er . . . custody of me. I'll never be released on my own recognizance, but . . . well, never mind. Here. The stroganoff is very good and the flan is excellent." He buried his face in the menu, falling silent before he let his bitterness show.

Heero eyed the menu and decided on the stroganoff, a spinach salad, and the flan. When the waiter came back he gave him such an evil eye that he gulped.

"I don't appreciate having things slammed on the table. I have some nasty reflexes. If you trigger them, bad things could happen. I won't be blamed for it either. Just a warning, you understand." The waiter gulped again and nodded vigorously. "Just be glad that His Highness is more stable than I am. That little display could have triggered . . . Things better left unsaid." Heero bent the heavy silver fork into a U-shape. Milliardo raised a startled eye brow. "Drat. Don't know my own strength. I'm so sorry about that. Could you please bring me another?" Heero gave the waiter what Duo would have called a 'please mister don't be mad' look, then turned to Milliardo to begin a conversation about strategy and tactics of Alexander the Great that would keep them both amused throughout lunch. Milliardo managed not to laugh by biting the inside of his cheek, hard.

After lunch Milliardo insisted on going to the mall. Heero hung back a bit, he still couldn't convince himself that they wouldn't be dragged back and punished somehow. The short walk to the mall had him flinching and checking every shadow.

"Calm down. We checked out at the desk didn't we? The Sargent had you sign out. They know where we're going. And I have my leash. If you're going to jump at shadows, we're not going to enjoy this at all."

Heero managed to get himself under control, and by the time they reached the mall was actually looking forward to the experience. He'd never bought and payed for much of anything. Oden had taken care of it when they were together and J hadn't allowed him much in the way of possessions. Saying that lead to attachment. Why shouldn't you get attached to things? It's natural.

As they walked through the mall Heero decided on several things he wanted. He still had the MP3 player that Pete had given him. He wanted to find music for it and some audio books. That was one of Heero's secret vices; he liked to be read to. He'd listened to all the books Duo and Pete had downloaded for him so he wanted some new ones. He also wanted a pair of new boots. His old ones were worn at the ankles from the leg irons and wouldn't last much longer.

"I'd like new boots, some music and books. I'd also like a really good suit. That damn thing I wore at my trial was . . . horrible. Looked ok, but it didn't fit right, so I was always uncomfortable. And I want some new sweats and jeans that don't look like prison fatigues. And . . ."

Milliardo held up both hands in surrender. "Anything you want. I'll get it for you. Come on, let's look at small things first. Like . . . here's the music store. We'll get your books and MP3's first. Then we can look at some clothing and . . . I'm sorry. I wasn't snooping, or at least not for the wrong reasons. You understand?" Heero just shrugged. He didn't care as he was well aware that Milliardo was trying to help. "You need socks and underwear and pyjamas." He patted pockets "I've got a list here somewhere."

He drew it out and consulted it. He had his own ideas of some of the things Heero should have. He was, after all was said and done, only four years older than Heero. He lead the way into the music store and turned Heero loose with cart blanche. Heero sat down at the catalogue and started picking, he connected his unit to the catalogue and started shopping. He'd cleared the unit earlier, moving books he didn't want or had already read to his desk top, he'd done the same for music, which left lots of space for new stuff. And he intended to load it to capacity. No telling when he'd get the chance again.

It took him nearly an hour. He checked on Milliardo but he had wandered off to get himself some coffee. So he took his time instead of hurrying. He bought everything he wanted for once instead of picking and choosing. If Milliardo felt he'd spent too much, Duo would pay for it. Or Trowa, or Quatre, even Wufei would pay. When he got the invoice, he snickered. It was quite expensive, but worth every penny.

Milliardo wandered back with coffee in hand. Heero eyed the coffee drink with a slightly jaundiced eye.

"I thought you liked tea. What's with the coffee thing?"

"I do like tea, but the tea here is atrocious. This is good, and this time of afternoon I could use a lift. You done here? What's the damage?" Milliardo raised an eyebrow, not at the cost, which was negligible to him, but at some of the titles of books Heero had picked.

"The Wind in the Willows. Under the Lilacs? By who . . . Oh, Louisa May Alcott. And Strategy and Tactics for Three-dimensional Combat. Poetry of Chang Li. Quite a range of literature. You're quite well rounded."

Heero took the invoice from Milliardo and tucked it into a pocket. "Not really. I'm trying to be more well rounded. Quatre suggested most of the Classics. There's a lot of Asimov and Heinlein. Other Twentieth century writers and more Twenty First. He said I should read the top ten novels from every century since the twentieth. So. That's not that much, so I decided on the top fifteen. That should keep me occupied for a couple of months. And . . . "Heero trailed off at Milliardo's astonished expression. "What? I read really fast. J made sure of that. And I like music, so . . . Milliardo, if you want to kill J get in line, way after me. But you know he's dead. Didn't you order it yourself?"

"No, but if I'd known half what I do now I surely would have. Well. Forget that and come on, you still need clothes. And I'm picking most of them. I won't set you up as a copy of me, but I have definite ideas of how you should dress and convict-juvie isn't it. Jeans yes, and t-shirts. But those boots are truly awful."

They walked along the mall with Heero happily doing the 'gawking tourist' bit. Looking in windows and rubbernecking unashamedly. Milliardo watched him with enjoyment of his own.

Picking out clothing turned out to be easy, Heero told Milliardo that he wanted to dress like Quatre when he was casual. This was easy as Milliardo and Quatre had learned to dress in the same 'school'. So they got pants like Dockers and Levi's, cargo pants, jeans and such. Heero admitted that he only liked button down shirts for dress, so they loaded up on knit styles, rugby and polo shirts and t-shirts. And they nearly laughed themselves onto the floor as they said in unison 'no spandex!'

They made arrangements to have their purchases delivered and when the clerk realized what the address was she turned a little pale. Heero standing behind Milliardo gave her a dirty look then a pleading one. She refrained from remark and they left.

Then Milliardo took Heero to the electronics store. He didn't bother to ask Heero what he wanted, he just held out his hand and politely requested his player. Heero handed it over and watched as Milliardo picked out a book reader, a nice bedside stereo and a high-priced set of ear buds. When he picked up a hand-held game Heero stopped him. Milliardo took exception, "You deserve it. And I'm going to buy it for you. You can use it or not as you please."

"Oh, I'm going to be greedy for the first time in my life. I want that system." Heero pointed to a different box. "It has a hand-held and a console, and they use the same chips. So, two for the price of one, and I don't have to loose my data when I switch from one to the other."

Heero looked like a teenager. His obvious desire for that particular system, and his pleasure in the thought of having, it made him look like a happy seventeen year old. Heero shifted his right-hand crutch to his left arm and tried to pick the box up himself. Milliardo kept him from knocking over the whole pile.

"Here let me do that before you knock the whole thing over. You're going to make a mess."

"Without explosives? . . . not a chance. Thanks. I'll just stand here like a lump and let you handle it."

Heero gave Milliardo a long suffering look but couldn't hold it for more than a few seconds.

Again arrangements were made to have their purchases delivered to the facility.

Heero led Milliardo to the back of the store where he looked longingly at components. He spent some time reading boxes and wishing. He could make modifications to his laptop with some of the parts that would make it even faster than it was now. But he couldn't even have it. Duo was taking care of it for him. Duo, I wish you were here, you'd love this. he gave a memory module one last longing look and started for the door.

"That bad, is it?"

"Worse. You have no idea. I hate that brick I'm using now with an unholy passion. I . . . it's not even ego. I'm taking classes that need the power. I'm going to fail my Colonial Engineering class. I have to design a colony for the final. If I lose data at the current rate I'm never going to get done on time. I don't even need it connected to the Web. Only to a local net so I can use a blue print plotter. Damn. I'm so gonna fail that class. Duo will give me fits. He's . . . " At Milliardo's skeptical look he snarled. "He's smart. He just puts up that front to keep from getting his feelings hurt. L2 street rat . . . next time someone calls him that I'm gonna pop them one. He covers up a lot. He's sensitive about things. He has as many degrees as I do. He learns so fast it scares even me."

Heero looked up at a sculpture to keep from making a scene.

"Well, I'm sorry. He's just such a cut up sometimes, but I, of all people, should know better. His record is impressive and he's . . . how many degrees does he have?"

Heero told Milliardo what degrees Duo had and which ones he had. The Prince looked suitably impressed.

"Let me get in touch with the Warden and see what I can do." Milliardo called the man and after some conversation and a short wait he turned to Heero and motioned to the shelves of equipment and circuits.

"The Warden is sending for your lap top. After checking your schedule, he's going to let you have whatever you need. As long as it's not connected to the outside you can have whatever you want. Don't look at me like that. I know that all it takes is one cable, but the warden doesn't know that. I hope you won't abuse his trust." Milliardo smiled in a conspiratorial manner. "I know you won't abuse mine."

Heero sneered. He knew why he wasn't allowed access to the outside net. But he also knew that if he chose to do so, no one would catch him doing anything. However, he wasn't interested in hacking money or information for sale. He just wanted to pass his course, mail Duo and have some fun. He didn't think that was asking too much.

He picked out what he wanted, including components to build a monster PC and the ones he wanted to replace in his laptop. Then he saw it. It was Gundanium. The ultimate case and he wanted it bad. So he picked it up and went through the shelves again, he was going to build the ultimate laptop. Light, small, and powerful enough to do anything he could think of. Milliardo watched with some amusement. It was so easy to make the boy happy. Just turn him loose in an electronics warehouse with permission to gut the place.

More paying and arranging, and they left to finish their mall crawl with . . . ice cream.

"Don't tell me you don't like it. I know you do. You lived a deprived childhood, so you need sundays. Besides it's full of calcium. Builds strong bones."

Heero snickered. Then replied cheekily. "You just want an excuse to eat some girly, whip cream covered mess. But . . . " he put on a long-suffering face "I'll just have a Black Forrest with extra whipped cream and two cherries."

Heads turned as Milliardo got the whoops.

"Maxwell, you know we're not supposed to hack secure systems. What are you doing?"

Wufei was just curious, he knew Duo wasn't going to do anything to endanger their hard won freedom

Hi Wufei. It's the floor plan for Allenville. And the security system schematics. They're laughable. There's not even a fence just a brick wall. I'm going to visit Heero.

Wufei just gave Duo a stern look. "You don't need the schematics for the security system just to visit him." Wufei held up his hand in a resigned gesture "Don't tell me. I don't want to know. Just . . . whatever you're up to, be careful."

"Ok. Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen "

Wufei left, going to his room to find his bed turned down, with a chocolate mint on the pillow. He smiled gently, ate the mint, and resolved not to bawl Duo out if he got caught doing whatever it was he was doing.

Duo gathered his equipment and departed just after dusk. He didn't need much, just dark clothing, heavy gloves, and a small device to override electronic locks.

"Heeeerrrooo. Wakie wakie. 'Ro . . . Lover."

Heero slapped at the tickling thing in his face then stiffened. It was, wasn't it?

"Duo." He sat up with a jerk. "Duo! What the hell? You'll get us both in trouble. You're crazy!"

"Crazy in love with you. If no one finds out, no one will be in trouble. I checked, there's no visual surveillance here. Kiss me."

So Heero did.

He spent several minutes kissing every inch of Duo, carefully stripping off his clothing as he did so. He folded each piece carefully and put it on the chair beside the bed, even going so far as to stuff Duo's socks in his boots. Duo hummed and moaned.

"Ro. Stop. You have to stop a sec."

Heero stopped just north of his objective.

"Why? You don't like it?"

"That's the trouble, I do like it. I'm not going to last long if you do what you were going to do."

Heero hummed gently against Duo's belly, then murmured. "It's been so long. I think we'll recover fairly quickly. Wanna try for two."

"Wanna try for as many as my body will take. Ro . . . love you."

Heero smiled against Duo's neck How'd he get clear up there "Duo, love you, too."

Duo stiffened and then went completely limp. Heero panicked. "Duo . . . Duo love. What . . . speak to me. Say something."

"Something. . . Ro, you said it. I . . . oh, shit. You said it right out loud. No mumbling or . . . nothing." Duo hugged Heero sniffling furiously so as not to drip tears on the pillow.

"Yup. Therapy is a wonderful thing. Especially if you want it to work. Duo you were right. J messed me up even more than I thought."

"Told you so in the hospital. You . . . well, I don't want to spend the night in introspection. Just make love to me will you."

"Sure."

Heero knew all Duo's sensitive spots. The place between neck and shoulder, that little hollow where all he had to do was lick and Duo went limp. The back of his neck where he kissed to make him tremble like a leaf. The back of his knee when he lifted his leg a simple touch could draw groans and whimpers.

Duo also knew the right places. Ear lobes that caused a hitch in breathing when nipped. That spot under Heero's chin that drew a deep groan. The bend of the elbow where a simple lick could send him trembling.

The odd spot under his breast bone that brought sighs.

They played each other's bodies like instruments of pleasure. The first climax left them both panting and limp.

Heero finally shifted Duo gently to lay beside him.

"Top or bottom?"

Duo sighed, "Bottom. It won't do for you to be sore tomorrow. To many questions."

"Ok . . . I'll be gentile."

Duo kissed Heero on the chin then rested his forehead on the same spot. "I know. But, unless you're fooling around on me, neither of us has gotten any since the day before the sentencing." Duo shuddered, remembering the frantic, despair filled night.

Heero didn't dignify the fooling around remark with enough attention to even allow a grunt.

Instead he started all over again. Touching, caressing, licking. Duo panted and moaned; wanting nothing so much as Heero touching every bit of him. He just melted and let Heero have his way with him. Heero rasped his tongue over that special hollow just in front of Duo's trapezious and held him when he relaxed.

Duo whimpered, spreading his legs and squirming, silently asking Heero to take the next step. Heero sighed softly, blowing his breath across Duo's erect and straining nipples. Duo shifted again, pulling Heero between his legs and wrapping one over his shoulder, the other around his hips. Heero accepted the move. Gently settling himself on Duo's chest for a moment, he accepted the tube pressed into his hand with a slight laugh.

"Boy scout."

"You becha. God, Heero, touch me. I need you. Do something."

"I will, just be patient. I won't hurt you. Not even for this. Kiss!"

Heero slid one hand behind Duo's neck and caressed the nape with gentile fingers. The other hand found its way to other places. Places that cried out for touch. Duo lifted his hips and waited impatiently while Heero made sure he wouldn't be hurt.

When they joined all either of them could do was freeze for a few moments before they both ended it too soon. Then Heero started to move, with Duo rising to meet each thrust. Sweat dripped and tears as well. Not tears of pain, tears of joy, of completion. Soft moans were exchanged through kisses, groans were answered with sighs. Their last shuddering breaths were exchanged.

Heero rolled them over so that Duo was limp against his powerful chest. He ran his fingers gently through Duo's sweat stiffened bangs and kissed his damp cheeks.

Duo shifted restlessly. "Again? I could do it. You wanna?"

Heero looked at the clock and decided against. "Better not. They have a bed check in about twenty minutes. We've just got time to shower."

"Bed check? You're kidding. In this place? Who here has the ability?"

Heero absently considered as they headed for the shower.

"Well, other than Milliardo. No one. But . . ."

"Milliardo? Milliardo Peacecraft is here? Jesus, they don't believe in tempting fate do they? You run into him yet?"

"Yeah, in fact, he's my sponsor. You should see some of the stuff he bought me. Come on, stop yacking and shower. . . unless you want to put your clothes back on over that mess."

Duo gave up, if Heero wasn't upset about being around Peacecraft then he wasn't going to waste their precious time together worrying about it either.

They showered and Heero brushed Duo's hair out and rebraided it. He looked at his watch and grumbled.

"We better hurry, they'll check in about ten minutes. They only sort of stick their head in to see if I'm still living or something, but you can't be here when they do. Come on."

Duo knew he had to leave but it hurt. He sighed and gave Heero one last kiss, then turned and slipped out the sliding glass doors. He ran lightly through the small garden, vaulted from the wall to the roof and disappeared into the darkness.

Neither of them noticed the figure standing beneath the old Japanese Maple that shaded one corner of the garden. The figure that stood ready to give a boost if it was needed.

I've got so many people to thank, I'm not sure where to start. I'm going to go down my list of E-mails and try hard. If I miss anyone, please forgive me. I'm cramming this between lunch and house cleaning. If you go to my bio my e-mail addie is good. Send me an e-mail and I'll answer for sure. Going to your bios is too time consuming and I'm getting so many nice reviews that it's beginning to take up to0 much space on my chapters. I'm really sorry about that, but I feel that long lists of thank you's detract from the story.

So here goes. Silvermane1, MelizaMac, MikaSamu, EquineAngel, anissa, Clarobell, Silver Phoenix 7, Bombayoni, ZaKai, Dk joy. Thank you so much for you reviews. Several of you have given me good intel on what I need to clear up. It will be worked into future chapters.


	14. Games

The Price They Paid: Games.

Betaed by Skippyscatt. (Thanks!)

Because I'm telling about what happens to Heero and the others on the same morning, I'm telling the story in two parts, first Duo and the others, then Heero. the story converges at the signs.

Duo was anxiously waiting for Quatre to get ready. They were going to the mall to see the new game that was going to be unveiled.

Quatre rubbed his forehead. He already had a headache. Duo was driving them all a little crazy.

He, Duo, was a bundle of contradictions. Loud, bouncy, friendly, kind and considerate. He could also be quiet, sneaky, distant, cruel and hard hearted. Depending on his mood; or the necessity of the moment. Right now he was trying to keep up his spirits by bouncing all over the place, getting into everything, and chattering incessantly. Chang Wufei was considering a visit to Outer Mongolia.

Trowa just let it roll off his back saying. 'Once he gets used to the idea that he really can visit anytime he wants he'll get over this.'

Quatre hoped the trip to the mall would help Duo get rid of some of his excess energy.

Duo sighed and flopped onto the couch. He knew he was being a pain in the ass to the others, but he couldn't help it. He just wanted to spend as much time as possible with Heero. He'd gotten caught on the way back from the prison by Quatre. He hadn't seen him that angry in a long time. Just after Heero's sentencing to be exact. He'd quietly asked Duo if he was trying to get himself committed. So now he was patiently waiting for his visitor's permit to be approved. Quatre said that there was no reason it wouldn't be but it had to go through proper channels which took time. Time Duo resented wasting.

So Quatre had decided to accept the invitation to come to the grand opening of the arcade and the new total emersion game.

Wufei snagged Duo from his sprawl on the couch. "Come on. If we don't hurry, we'll be late. It won't look good."

"What do you care? I. . . sorry 'Fei, that didn't come out right. I'm just pissed. I got to see Heero for such a short time. And now I have to wait. Q said he'd peachon me if I didn't stay away.

Wufei brushed Duo off and straightened his shirt. "If you get caught, it'll be more trouble than it's worth and you know it. Just be patient like the turtle. "

Duo grumbled, "Turtle? What does that have to do with anything?"

Wufei just rolled his eyes and mumbled something about 'ancestors' and 'patience.'

When they were all finally in the car Duo rather contritely apologized for being a pain.

"Maxwell. I know you don't mean to be a nuisance. We all do. We're just as antsy as you are. When we get our visitors passes approved we'll all be much happier."

Wufei reached over and patted Duo on the knee. He'd gotten much more touchy-feely in the last months. His people weren't demonstrative, so he'd never realized how comforting a simple touch could be until lately. Now, he found that he craved touch, they all did. Quatre was a hugger and Trowa was much more affectionate than you'd have expected. Duo was, as Quatre said, a huggy bear. Wufei wondered how Heero would handle all the hugging and such that went on now.

They rode in companionable silence until they reached the mall where the crowd was denser than they'd expected. However, they were met at the car by a rather obnoxious little man from the game company. He led them to a side door and explained that, since they were 'personalities,' they were to be brought in from the back of the store. The unveiling was in one hour and they were expected to be on the stage exactly on time.

Duo eyed him with some disdainand shrugged. "Sure whatever you say. Umm. What is the game? No one bothered to tell us."

"Sorry, it's a big surprise. No one knows. Frankly, not even me."

They all just gave up. They were determined to have fun, so they would; nasty little man or not.

When they were led to the stage, Quatre recognized the shell of the game it was from one of his fabrication facilities. He blinked for a second, then turned to Trowa, "Trowa, that shape. It . . . looks . . . oh, . . ." Quatre started snickering while Trowa just smiled.

Wufei poked Duo and hissed. "Maxwell, close your mouth. You'll swallow a bug."

"Done did. Holy, crap. Chang Wufei. Will you stop poking me and really look at that."

Wufei turned to examine the contraption and nearly choked on his own spit.

They all recognized the shape; each one of them had spent hours and hours in just such a thing.

Just then the curtains opened and the host started in on his Spiel.

Ladies and gentlemen. Galactic Games is happy and proud to present their first full immersiongame. With this game you can do it all. Just like the real thing. There is no difference in this game and the real deal. Every action has itsconsequence. Step up and be a . . . GUNDAM PILOT."

"These units are exactly like the trainers the real pilots used." The Host turned and gestured to the four young men behind him. In fact they will be the first to play the new game. Just so they can testify to the reality of the game."

Quatre walked up and plucked the microphone from the Hosts hand.

"No, we won't. This isn't fair. Too many of the people here waited all night for the chance to be first. I know you'll yield your place to us, but we don't want you to. We'll wait our turns just like every one else."

The groans from the crowd turned to cheers. Quatre went back to the others and motioned for one of the servers. When he came over Quatre simply asked for chairs for them.

They spent the next hour watching as the operator strapped people into the pilot's chair and started them out on the easiest level. There were six levels; trainee, Journeymanpilot, pilot, Leopilot, Taurus pilot, or Gundam pilot. And at the Gundam level, it was possible to pick which gundam to operate including Tallgeese.

Not one person had managed to complete trainee level; much less go on to the next. People were beginning to complain. And leave.

Quatre sighed, this was boring, really boring; even he was beginning to get restless. Trowa leaned over and whispered. "One of us had better try it out. What if they rigged it too hard, instead of too easy?"

Quatre whispered back. "Let's let Duo. He's about to fall asleep here."

So Quatre got the Host's attention and suggested he let Duo try. "You've got a real problem with this."

The Host sighed. "Thank god this is only a beta unit. The company wanted to launch the game as soon as possible, but the developers are ivory tower types. Real game freaks. I don't think this game is going to go over very well. No one can win it."

Quatre glanced at Trowa, who poked Wufei. Duo was off in la la land somewhere. Humming softly.

"Duo." Quatre watched as Duo clicked back in. "It's your turn."

"Cool." Duo sauntered over to the attendant, braid swinging.

The attendant eyed Duo for a second then opened the door to the simulator. Duo tugged off his jacket and handed it to the attendant. Dressed in jeans, soft boots and a t-shirt, he looked small next to the attendant. Duo shrugged his shoulders, cracking his neck. Then he stepped into the pilot's seat and settled himself in the padding. He buckled the belts over his body and tightened the straps carefully. He'd actually been watching most of the time and he'd noticed that the attendant didn't fasten the harness nearly tight enough. The unpleasant sensation of feeling like you were about to part ways with the pilot'sseat was one of the things that was causing gamers to loose points. It was distracting.

He nodded to the attendant who shut the door. The entire compartment was clear. It was easy to see right into it the cameras that focused on the operator's face and various other places in the cock pit made it easy to see what couldn't be seen directly.

When the door shut Duo picked his level overriding the attendant. The attendant just shook his head. This little guy was just asking for it. But if he knew enough about the game to over ride him he wasn't going to make a fuss. He was just as bored as everyone else.

Duo grinned. The levels had sub-levels. Each sub-level consisted of walking, running, and if capable, flying. The second sub-level introduced use of hand to hand weapons, then arms like buster rifles. Duo walked, ran, and flew. Then the combat started and Duo blossomed like a star burst shell.

He'd picked Gundam level of course. He also picked Deathscythe mode. It was just like the simulator that he'd trained on. And he was really enjoying himself. The computer finally threw everything there was at him including Tallgeese. He beat them all and finally staggered out of the cockpit sweating and exhausted.

"Wow! That was fantastic. The feeling was just like the trainer. And the seat is better, the padding and the restrains system work lots better. Wufei, you have to try it. See what you think. Oh . . . thanks, man."

Duo accepted the water bottle from the attendant and took a deep drink. He was recovering rapidly, but he was always thirsty after a battle. He settled into a chair and watched as Wufei entered the trainer. He looked around, it was very quiet

All the spectators were just standing watching as Duo proved that flying a gundam wasn't for just anybody. The silence was deafening. No one noticed the smell of burning insulation.

The Host babbled something about leaving it to the experts and adjusting the lower levels but no one paid him much attention. They were watching Wufei as he strapped himself into the pilot's seat.

Wufei spent thirty minutes whipping the unit through some heavy maneuvers and finally shut it down when it started to over heat.

The entire audience went crazy. Wufei stepped out of the machine, accepted his own bottle of water and a small towel from Duo. Quatre and Trowa both looked slightly disgruntled. They wanted to try it too, but it was now closed for repairs.

"Well that was interesting. I hope . . . I know that we'll take over that franchise. I'll have . . . no, Duo will . . . hmmm adjust . . . and . . . " Quatre's mind wandered off into the labyrinth of programming adjustment and merchandising.

Heero wandered into the dining room for breakfast. He'd put his new computer together and was anxious to show it to Zechs.

He sat at 'their' table with his back to the wall. The waiter approached carefully and gently placed a glass of water on the table and handed him the menu.

"I'll have coffee for now and . . . French toast, eggs, bacon, hash browns and orange juice . . . in about thirty minutes." Heero handed the menu back to the waiter and glanced around. Not many of the men here approached him. The one's who did seemed to regard him in an avuncular light. Which was fine with him. The few that didn't want to 'father' him, regarded him with either indifference or anodd mixture of trepidation and condescension. He didn't mind. None of them bothered him.

Zechs arrived ten minutes later and walked right to the table.

"Well, waiting for me?" Heero nodded. "You shouldn't have. What if I had decided to eat in my rooms this morning?"

"You can't cook. You've never missed a meal in the dining room, unless you were sick or out with . . . Relena?" Heero made it a question.

Zechs gave him an indignant look and snorted. "I'll have you know I'm an excellent cook. I took classes. Escofier gold medalist."

"You? Well, I would never have guessed."

"Oh yes. I can do wonders with military rations." Zechs pushed at a stray strand of hair and made a moue of disgust. "Dammit."

Heero smiled at that face and offered to rebraid 'that mess' after breakfast. Zechs took him up on the offer and turned to look for the waiter. He caught his eye and made an imperious gesture, signaling that he wanted a menu.

The waiter brought over a menu and water for Zechs, he also brought Heero's breakfast. He started to slam the water glass, but Heero cleared his throat sharply. The man gulped and set it down carefully.

Zechs raised his eyebrow at the man and remarked rather acidly, "If I'd known bending flatware was what it took to get quick service I would have done this months ago." The waiter goggled at the bent spoon and hurried away.

Heero started in on breakfast and watched as Zechs drank coffee. They both preferred tea but this was America and the tea was 'unfit', as Wufei would have politely put it. Not that Americans couldn't make good tea, it was just impossible to find it in a 'public' place.

"I really miss tea. Is there anyway to get some? Real tea, I mean."

Zechs put his cup down and shrugged. "I gave up on tea a while ago. I don't like to make a whole pot just for myself and I find those individual brewers don't live up to their reputation."

Heero shrugged. "Then you've been using the wrong one. Quatre had some that worked quite well." He poked at the last of his eggs. "I'd like to go back to the mall and see if I can't find some good tea. Will you go with me?"

"Certainly. Two trips in one week . . . the dissipation is sure to go to my head." Zechs smiled at Heero who made a face back. "Did you get your computer put together? Is it satisfactory?"

"Yes and yes. I brought it to show to you. When you're finished with your breakfast . . . if you'd like."

Heero suddenly looked his age, and shyly peeked at Zechs through his messy bangs.

"Certainly, I'd like. I'm somewhat of a techno geek myself. In a quietly elegant way, of course."

Heero snorted and finished his breakfast in two bites. Zechs proved that he had a childish side as well, he had coffee and a** Danish **for breakfast.

After breakfast was finished and the dishes cleared away, Heero pulled the new computer out of his pocket. Zechs blinked. It was so small.

Heero gave in to his enthusiasm "Here. This is the key board . . . and this is the monitor. It's all state of the art."

Heero put the computer on the table. It was no bigger than a thick paperback book. He plucked two small cubes from one side of the case and placed them on the table. One projected a laser generated virtual keyboard onto the table top. The other cube projected a virtual monitor, Zechs coveted it instantly, the visual just hovered over the table; clear and bright.

"That's incredible. The power consumption must be outrageous. How long does the battery last?"

Heero smirked, "No battery. It has an energy cell that's good for six years of continuous use."

Zechs eyed the tiny unit with undisguised lust. "I want one. Really bad. If I buy the components, will you build me one?"

Heero shrugged, "Sure. That'll make three in the known world. I sent the plans to Duo via email. He'll build himself one before the end of the week or I miss my bet." Heero put the computer away with a satisfied air. "Mall now? Please?"

Zechs laughed softly. "Yes. Mall now."

Heero was much more confident about the signout procedure, but when the officer started to give Zechs the same lecture he'd given him the last time Heero couldn't help rolling his eyes and obviously wishing the man would hurry up. Zechs patted him on the shoulder and told him to start on his way. Heero started off, glad that he'd finally graduated to a cane. His therapist had said walking was good for him, if he didn't overdo.

When Zechs caught up to him, he stopped and tugged him over to a bench. Seating Zechs on the bench Heero unbraided the sloppy braid and accepting a folding brush from his 'victim,' he brushed out the long blond mane and rebraided it.

"There. It wasn't that bad. You just had a lot of stragglers that you didn't catch at the very beginning. You'll learn. We going to the mall now, or would you like to walk for a while?"

Zechs ran a hand over the braid and shrugged. "Whatever you'd like. I'm in no hurry to get there."

"Walk, I think. You look like you bit into a lemon."

"I just get so tired of that same lecture. That's why I don't go out so often. It's not like I could forget." Zechs tugged his cuff over the bracelet and flushed slightly.

Heero sighed. Putting that bracelet on Zechs was like chaining a lion. He wondered at Relena.

"Why doesn't Relena do something?"

"It's not politically expedient."

Heero made a sour face. "Oh. Well . . . fuck."

Zechs shook his head. "Good of the many, you know."

They walked in silence until they reached the mall. Heero took one look at the banners and crowds and looked for another way in. Zechs steered them both to a side entrance and down one level.

"The tea shop is here. I haven't even bothered to go in. I . . . never mind. Come on."

They entered the tea shop and Heero went directly to a shelf display containing 'one-shot' or one cup tea pots and brewers. He located the type he'd liked best and also picked out a pot. He considered for a moment, then picked a brewer for Zechs.

Heero went to the counter and examined the canisters of tea on shelves behind it. The clerk approached him, asking if she could help. Heero asked for some Silver Needle.

"Oh, that's a good selection. This year's crop was excellent. Much better than last year's. If you like that there's also Monkey Fist. And a very nice jasmine."

Heero considered. He liked all of them, but he wasn't sure if he wanted that many different green teas.

"Perhaps a white of some sort; instead of the Monkey Fist." Heero went back to looking at the canisters.

"Here, taste this." The clerk handed Heero a small cup with a smile. "It's Kokoro." The white tea was excellent; flavorful, with flowery after notes. Heero sighed, it was the first taste of good tea he'd had in more time than he cared to think.

Heero eyed the canisters again, he wanted some of most of the types there. Zechs walked up behind him and pointed.

"That is one of my favorites. Which sort do you like best?"

Heero pointed in his turn. "That one. And that one. I like oolong the best, but white is second."

"Not genmaicha? I thought."

Heero was already shaking his head. "Don't particularly care for it. I think it tastes like boiled hay. What does your favorite taste like?"

"It's Ti Quan Yin. Oolong, peachy, with a touch of spice, that one is special. It has just a bare hint of jasmin."

Heero considered for a moment. "I'd like some of that. And that. And that. A quarter each, I think."

The clerk looked at Heero's selections. "Very well. But I must warn you. That white tea is Royal White Darjeeling, it's $280 a pound. I can't sell less than a quarter."

Zechs just smiled at her. "Oh, I think I can afford it. Anything he wants."

Heero shook his head and brandished a credit card. "Q sent it to me. I'm buying." He turned his head to look at Zechs. "I'll be offended if you refuse. Now pick something." Heero glared at Zechs who held up his hands in surrender, shaking his head and laughing.

Heero indulged himself. He bought several sorts of tea; two white, an oolong and a black. He also bought a tetsubin, a bodhum, and two one-cup brewers. He distracted Zechs for a moment by asking him to see what the ever increasing noise was about. He motioned for the clerk to measure out a quarter of the tea Zechs liked. She smiled and nodded just as Zechs came back.

After Heero was through paying for the two packages and arranging for them to be delivered, Zechs motioned for him to come to the windows.

"The noise is coming from the next level. There's a new game being introduced. One of the full immersion one's. There's a complete set up of some kind, I think. I can't really tell from here. You want to go up and see?"

Heero thought for a minute. "Would it be ok, do you think?"

Zechs nodded. "As long as we don't break any rules, we're fine. And I don't see either one of us assaulting anyone or stealing anything. Do you?"

Heero snorted in amused agreement so they climbed the stairs and investigated.

Heero nearly fell over. And Zechs wasn't far behind him. They both had spent enough time in one of those things to recognize it on first sight.

"Gundam trainer? You have got to be kidding me. Who . . . this is ridiculous. Most of these people aren't in good enough shape to withstand operating one of those. But . . . " Zechs closed his mouth before he said something stupid.

Heero sneered, the person in the 'game' was about to be killed by his own inexperience. Sure enough, before he could even point it out to his companion, the gamer tripped over his own 'feet' and fell hard enough to crack the carapace. Since he was 'on mars'; he suffocated.

Zechs poked Heero and pointed. There seemed to be no way they could get anywhere near the stage, but they could look, and Heero did, with his heart in his eyes. Duo looked so good; they all did. He wanted to get closer, but the crowd was thick and security was fair. Zechs eyed the stage then whispered. "If you want to get closer, we can manage if you'll have a little patience. Force won't do it but . . ."

Heero nodded. "Yeah, we can work our way around the edges until we're close enough for one of them to see us. Quatre will let in. Come on."

So they spent the next half-hour or more alternately watching Duo, then Wufei in the trainer/game, and easing their way to the stage.

Duo nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Heero.

"Trust you to bust it before I get a turn."

Heero was immediately surrounded by the rest of the pilots while Zechs looked on in amusement.

They hugged and babbled; Heero tucked Duo under his arm and turned to look at Zechs. Zechs nodded and turned to look at the trainer. He couldn't think of it as anything else, and he was interested.

The operator walked over to the group and sighed.

"Well, that tears it. It's out of commission until I can replace the servos. I told them the things were too small."

"Do you have larger units?" Duo felt bad. Between them he and Wufei had burned all the servos and grav plates out.

"Yeah, but it'll take at least six hours for me to replace them."

Suddenly Quatre spoke behind them.

"Do you actually have the units, or do you have to send for them?"

"Mr. Winner." The operator nodded to Quatre. "I've got them right there. I brought them along because I figured I'd replace the burnt out units as they went. But instead of one at a time, they all failed at once. So I'm gonna have to rebuild the entire servo system at once."

Quatre examined the burnt out servos with interest. Then he stood, stroking his cheek for a while, thinking.

"If you'll allow me, I think I can get it online in less than three hours. If you would close the curtains, please."

Quatre went to the Host and explained what he was going to do. The host sighed. "We're going to have a lot of disappointed people, they have waited a long time; some of them since early this morning."

"Yes. I know. But. . . most of the ones who have waited are tired. I hate for them to lose their places, but I hate for them to wait . . . hmmm."

Quatre glanced around, but Trowa was the one who came up with the solution.

"Look . . " Trowa pointed to a coffee shop. It had a little numbered slip dispenser right by the door.

Quatre talked to the Host; who agreed that this idea would work.

Trowa went into the shop and talked to the manager. The manager nodded and produced a roll of the tickets. It was outdated and bright pink. Trowa offered to buy it from him, but the man just shrugged and pointed out that the free offering on the back had expired. He smiled, said 'good advertising' and waved Trowa away.

Trowa took the tickets to one of the assistants and asked him to start handing them out. "And make sure that they understand that the offer on the back is void. We don't want to cause the coffee shop problems, since the manager was kind enough to give us the tickets free."

While Trowa was talking to the assistant, the host was announcing that the game was closed for repairs but that the pink tickets would be honored first and in numerical order. There were a few groans, but many more cheered.

Duo sighed. He was going to work on the machine, no doubt about that, but he liked this outfit and it was going to be ruined. There was no way to work on something as complex as this without crawling and groveling.

"Look, pal . . . what the hell is your name?"

"Huh? Oh George. Chief Assistant, head mechanic and general 'it's all your fault' guy. You're Duo Maxwell. I know all you guys. Pleased to meetcha." The man offered his hand. Duo took it and pointed to the other assistant, the one who'd helped him into the game. "He any good?"

"Well, yes and no. He's better with people, so he's contact guy. I'm just a mechanic. As for being any help with fixing this, no. Good goffer, but that's all."

Quatre walked up, looked at the mess of wires, servos, and gravity plates and then at the game unit.

"What do we have? What do you need?"

"Time and hands. You do the meet and greet thing. I'll need Heero, Trowa and Wufei. This guy is too big to be of much help in the actual installation. Ummm oh shit." Duo clutched at his chest dramatically. Zechs had walked up to the group and come at him from a funny angle, so Duo hadn't seen him until the last minute.

"Give a guy a heart attack, why don't you."

Zechs bowed slightly. "I'm sorry. Maybe I should wear a bell." Zechs felt a little hurt. All he wanted to do was help.

Duo caught the scowl and head shakefrom Heero, so he decided to be nice. Heero would explain that look later.

"I'm sorry too. Just . . . I got a few twitches. You know. Big guys kind of freak me out sometimes."

Zechs gave Duo a sad look and started to move away. Duo stopped him when he was about two feet away.

"That's good . . . I don't feel like I'm crainin' my neck. Thanks . . . umm . . . what did you want?"

"I'd like to participate, if I could. I'm a fair mechanic."

Duo snorted. "Fair my ass. You maintained Tallgeese yourself, or I miss my guess."

"Actually I didn't. I didn't have time, between one thing and another. But I was trained so that I could do any repair in an emergency."

Wufei inserted himself into the group. "Well, that's all well and good, but if you intend to get this done, we need to quit yacking and get working."

Duo looked around; when it came to quick repairs, he was the master, so he knew that all the others would look to him for assignment.

"Ok . . . well. Zechs, you won't fit anymore than that . . . George, so help him with the unpacking and initial set up. Trowa . . ."

"Excuse me, but all you have to do is take off the access plates and I can reach in to the shell proper and. . ."

Duo cut the man off gently. "Look . . . how long does it take just to get off the plates. " George got a tired look. "Yeah. I thought so. We're not going to waste forty minutes or so a plate taking them off. Quatre, Heero and I are going to crawl around between the shells and mount the new units and we're going to replace the grav plates at the same time. Wufei can do that. That leaves you, Trowa and Milliardo to keep us fed. Got it?" Duo looked around at everyone. "Any questions? . . . Any complaints . . . good ideas that I missed?"

Head shaking all around. George just motioned to Trowa to come with him with a nod to Zechs.

"Umm. Mr. Maxwell . . ."Duo turned to look at Zechs. "I legally changed my name to Zechs Merquise. Please call me Zechs."

Duo gave him a jaunty salute. "Sure, Zechs. Ummm . . . one thing. You hurt Heero in any way and I'll gut you."

It took Zechs a moment to realize exactly what Duo had said. The cheerful tone of voice totally belied the words. But he didn't doubt Duo's seriousness for a second.

George delighted everyone by producing coveralls in various sizes; along with bandanas and gloves.

George seemed to be somewhat in awe of Zechs, but soon got over it as he; one, refused gloves as getting in his way and two, seemed not to mind taking orders from him. Trowa just got to work. He started uncrating the units and handing the servos to George. Zechs realized that he was going to wind up preparing the grav plates. Not that he minded, he was better at the electronics than he was at the more mechanical servos.

It took them almost half an hour to get the first units ready. While they were doing that, Duo, Heero and Quatre dismounted as many of the burnt out servo units as they could.

Wufei started on the burnt out grav plates, grumbling about the way they were mounted.

"Wufei, what's the matter with how they're mounted?" Duo stuck his head into the gap between the inner and outer shells. They'd accessed the whole unit from the unsealed bottom and Wufei was half way up the side, braced between something and something else.

"Half the energy is wasted. They're just jammed in here. I've never seen a more inefficient use of resources in my life. I don't care if it is just a game, it's criminal. No wonder everything burned out."

"What do you need?"

Duo crawled up beside Wufei to examine the mess for himself. "Needs a real bracket not that . . . What the hell is it?"

Wufei unscrewed a piece of the mount. "Looks like a cheep piece of mounting strapping. Like you'd use to keep pipe from rattling."

Duo took the bit of metal from Wufei and nodded. "Sure is . . . Cheep fuckers. Damn . . . we better look this thing over good. No telling what other corners the cheepskatescut. Shit . . . uumm. I'll see what I can come up with. Just rip it all out."

"Ok I'll . . . if. . . um. . . see. . . " wufei wandered off into his head. Duo just crawled out and started sketching on a piece of paper. Wufei crawled out with a grav plate in his hand. He handed it to Duo.

"Burnt the fuck up completely. Damn. Well . . . what do you think 'Fei. Look ok?"

Wufei examined the sketch for a minute. "Good. That'll work a lot better. But where do we get it?"

"I'll machine them myself. George has to have a small lathe. And the metal is mild steel. The plates don't have to withstand any side stresses, so it'll do fine. Just concentrate on getting the fried units out for now. Be sure to check all the wiring. Ok?"

Wufei sneered cheerfully at Duo "Think I'm an idiot? . . . go . . . machine or whatever and leave me to do my job." Wufei smacked Duo gently on the back of the head. Duo laughed and hurried off.

"Hey, Zechs. You any good as a machinist?"

"Yes, I'm actually quite good . . . but I can't."

Duo eyed Zechs for a grim moment. "I thought you said you wanted to help?"

"I do, but I'm not allowed."

Duo grunted sourly. He'd hoped to get the machining done without having to take himself away from the main work. But if Zechs wanted to be stubborn, he was going to have to redistribute his resources.

Heero came up behind Duo and wrapped an arm around him. "Ask him why."

"Ok, I'll bite. Why?"

Zechs held up his arm showing the bracelet. "I'm not allowed near any cutting implements. Including lathes."

Duo took Zechs' hand in his. He carefully examined the bracelet and recognized it for what it was. "Fuck. Might as well just jam a leash up your ass. Sorry."

Zechs looked into calm violet eyes and shook his head. "Don't worry about it, it only stings a little."

Duo grumbled. Heero soothed. And they went back to work.

Duo machined the mounts, Quatre and Heero worked on replacing the servos, and Wufei the grav plates. Zechs unpacked the grav plates and got them ready for installation. Trowa prepared the servos that George unpacked. George also ran supplies to Quatre and Heero, while Zechs brought the prepared plates to Wufei.

They got filthy, greasy and sweaty. They also had more fun than any of them had had in a very long time.

"Hey an' no one shooting at us. I hardly know how to act."

Zechs, hanging from one hand while he manhandled a grav plate up to Wufei, offered to see what he could do.

"No thanks. Too many civilians around. I'd offer to let you run the WEI obstacle course, but . . . well, I am. If you can, that is."

Heero grunted, he'd heard a lot about it. "Hey, Zechs, as my sponsor isn't it your duty to accompany me on my first few furloughs. I think I'm eligible for a twelve-hour one next week."

Duo let out what could only be called a squeal of joy. "Hey, Q, Heero's up for a furlough. We could do something. Zechs is coming too."

Wufei dropped upside down from inside the shell, reached for the plate and snarled, "Maxwell. I'm trapped in this echo chamber with you. Have some respect for my eardrums . . . thank you, Mr. Merquise. If you are coming, please let us know enough in advance that we can plan around your . . . limitations."

Zechs felt completely pole-axed for a few seconds. Duo smiled, Trowa and Quatre had already accepted Zechs almost without question. Put grudges aside. Start new. "Ok, I'm accepting my own advice. Zechs, stop standing there like a burnt out leo and get humpin'."

Zechs returned to his work with a slightly stunned expression. They're just going to allow me into their circle? Heavens above.

Zechs sighed and blew his bangs off his sweaty forehead. Trowa did the same. Heero and Duo took some time to neck unashamedly.

Wufei pulled the elastic off his pigtail and swiped the stragglers back under control. Quatre just flopped onto the floor flat on his back and groaned.

George came around and grinned. "I can see why we won the war." He gave Zechs an apologetic shrug, Zechs flapped a weary hand back. "You finished it in two hours and change. You're all fantastic."

Quatre sighed "thanks. It was fun. But we better get going, we're all sweaty and . . ." He sniffed himself. "Odiferous"

Duo snickered, "Polite talk for stinky. Wu. You got a brush?"

Wufei shook his head. No, sorry." Wufei turned his head. "Ask George. He might have one, or maybe could get one."

George did better than that. He produced several very nice brushes from the promotional gifts. "Here. Least I can do."

Then there was some odd shuffling. Wufei needed help, as his arms were sore from the position he'd had to hold them in. Zechs was still not really capable of doing his own. And Heero wanted to do Duo's hair.

So they wound up in a sort of daisy chain. Wufei was cross-legged in front of Zechs, Zechs also seated on the floor in front of Duo, who was in a chair, and Heero standing behind Duo. Each with a brush in hand, except for Wufei, who was holding all the elastics. Heero and Zechs finished first, with Duo close behind. None of them noticed the flash of a camera.

George brought them all sodas and got them into a small back room to wait until the crowds calmed down enough to let them leave without being swarmed.

Most of the people waiting for the game had stood around and watched. The clear shells had given them an excellent view of exactly what was going on. Unknown to them, a vid crew there for the opening, had filmed most of what was going on. Including Zechs, calmly helping, working along side his former enemies.

"Ok, we did good people. Especially you George. You really did good. Stepped back and let us do the job, even though it might have made you look bad to your bosses. Q, make sure he doesn't get in trouble, will you." Duo turned to Zechs. "Thanks for helping out. I'm sorry about that little misunderstanding. Trowa, that ticket idea was great. Q. You have anything to add?

Quatre smiled at Duo. Whoever thought he was just a pretty face was in for a sorry surprise. Underestimating Duo wasn't good.

"Just that we all performed up to expectations again. Mr Merquise, we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for helping us."

Zechs was surprised by the warm glow Quatre's praise gave him. He knew a lot about all the pilots, he'd read reports about them for months. But the reality was much better. He felt hope for the first time in over a year.

"You're welcome. It was my pleasure. Some spot of brightness in an otherwise dull existence. Please . . . all of you must call me Zechs."

Heero snuggled with Duo, wondering how long it would be before they had to part.

"Sorry, people, it's going to be a while. The crowds aren't leaving anytime soon. Might want to make calls."

The attendant popped back out and Zechs sighed. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he called the Warden to explain what was happening. Much to his surprise, the Warden already knew all about it.

"Well, that was interesting." Zechs eyed the phone as if it had answers to his questions.

"What?"

Zechs explained that the Warden had told him not to worry about curfew. "He said, since we were with Mr. Winner, he would extend the curfew to whatever we need . . . interesting."

Zechs kept his own counsel, but looked at Quatre. Quatre met his gaze with a level look of his own. Zechs raised an eyebrow, but refrained from further comment.

The organizer finally arrived with a flurry of excuses, he'd been on L3, left late, gotten caught in traffic, etc.; but he was grovelingly grateful to the group for fixing the beta unit. Duo started laughing and had to explain the reference.

Zechs sighed, trust Maxwell to like anime and manga. References to the newest out were going to be hard to keep up with.

Duo laughed at the expression on his face. "Don't worry. I don't drown you in references just one every now and then." Wufei snorted indelicately and Trowa rolled his eyes. "What? I don't!"

"Only because Trowa threatened to burn your manga if you did."

"Pillock."

"Brat."

"Jerk."

Heero kissed Duo and Quatre grabbed Trowa to do the same. Wufei shifted from foot to foot and gave Zechs an apologetic look, Zechs just shrugged at him.

Sorry the chapter is short. But they end where they end and I don't try padding them. It usually doesn't work.

Notes

LGVK's do exist. See here. http/ 


	15. Tea For Two

The Price They Paid: Tea for Two 15

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Heero gave Duo one last kiss and watched as he hurried to the limo. The organizers had managed to get them all out of the mall proper and into the back without much fuss. Heero and Zechs were going to wait a while longer and then slip out a side door.

Heero turned away from the door then stopped suddenly. "Damn"

"What? Are you all right?" Zechs suddenly remembered the caution that the therapist had given them that Heero was not to overexert himself. Too much strain on his leg wasn't good. "Dammit. Is your leg hurting?"

Heero nodded absently, "Your computer! I forgot. We have to go get the components."

Zechs shook his head. "You have to get off that leg. I'll . . ." catching sight of a Mall Customer Courtesy RepresentativeZechs motioned him over. After a quick consultation the man hurried off. He came back soon riding in a scooter.

Heero blinked for a second, then smiled "Thanks. That's nice. I need to go to the electronics store."

Zechs slipped the mana tip and smiled back at Heero. "You want to finish shopping? We cleaned up enough that I don't think anyone will notice us."

Heero shrugged. "I don't care if they do. We have a right to be here, the facility says so. I don't think anyone is going to take a shot at us."

Zechs shook his head. "Probably not. But they _can _get unpleasant."

"J was unpleasant. What can they do? Get nasty? If they do, we just walk away."

"In your case ride, but I take exception to being spat on."

Heero gave Zechs a sideways look. "Not while I'm around. Let's go."

Zechs followed Heero in the scooter as he zipped through the hall. Heero kept his speed down to a brisk walk. Zechs was a little amazed that Heero had taken the scooter without argument. His leg _must_ be hurting.

Heero stopped at the electronics store and looked at the door and aisles. There was plenty of room to get through, so he headed for the back and the components. The clerk came over to help him.

"Hey! Got rid of that crutch. Great. How you feeling?"

"Pretty good. Over did it a little. Look the . . . " Heero fished around in a pocket and pulled out the receipt for his parts. "Computer worked out great. My friend . . . " Zechs felt a strange glow. "Likes it so I said I'd build him one."

The man took the receipt and started picking out the components. "I'll just pull the parts and package them up. You want them delivered?" Heero nodded "ok ummmm . . . here's your slip back. I don't need it anymore. I'll ring it all up real quick and you can be on your way."

The clerk carried all the boxes to the register and rang them up quickly. A signature and they were on their way.

Heero slowed at Zechs request so he could walk beside Heero. 'instead of trotting along behind like a dog.' Heero just snorted.

They noticed some whispering and pointing but no one bothered them, they just looked. So they took their time, hoping that the reporters outside would get bored and go away.

Heero stopped in front of a small out of the way shop and looked in the window. His fingers twitched on the handlebarsthen with a sad backward look he started to drive away. Zechs stopped him gently, pulling his hand off the accelerator.

"What did you see? Why are you leaving?"

Heero froze for a moment then turned back. He parked by the door and got off the scooter. The shop was too small for it so he had to leave it by the door. The owner was watching through the window and smiled as Heero left the scooter.

"Hello, come in. Feel free to look around. I have safety mouth pieces for most of the wind instruments just ask if you want one." Zechs was wandering around examining the store.

It was small and narrow with chairs scattered around so that people could sit down to try out guitars and banjos and such. But he was attracted to a harp. He reached out to touch it and the owner called out. "Please don't strum the harp. It's hard on the strings."

Zechs smiled sat on the small bench and tipped the harp to his shoulder. He started by playing a rippling arpeggio testing the attack of the strings. He picked gently through several partial songs then played something all the way through stumbling several times.

Heero listened with appreciation Zechs was good or would be with some practice.

"That was nice. When . . . er . . . I didn't know you played an instrument."

Zechs stroked the back piece gently, then tipped the harp up again. "I can get that for you in rosewood, if you'd prefer. It's a nice house harp."

"I'll take this one if you don't mind. It's already played in. I like the tone."

Heero saw the whistle display and went to it. He reached out hesitantly and picked up one.

"If you like I have one of each that you can play. They're dipped in sanitizing solution between customers."

Heero accepted a whistle from the man and put it to his lips. He played a scale and then carefully picked out "Country Gardens" an old, old song. Then he clutched the whistle to his chest obviously upset.

Zechs put his arms around Heero and hugged him gently. "It's all right. Take it easy."

Heero just wrapped his arms around Zechs waist and held on. "I . . . want Duo. I miss him so much. That little bit of time . . . It . . . damn."

Zechs just rubbed his shoulders and back waiting for him to get himself together.

Heero turned into Zechs' chest and shuddered. "I'm sorry . . . I feel stupid."

"Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

Heero straightened up and swiped at his cheeks with the palms of his hands. The owner slipped into the back again to give them some privacy.

"I had a whistle a long time ago. I think my father or grandfather gave it to me. Just an impression not really a memory. I kept it forever. Oden . . . he didn't want me to have it for some reason so one day it just disappeared. J promised me one for some accomplishment or another but I never got it. Just . . . " Heero sighed. "I really liked that whistle."

"Well, . . . .You probably attracted too much attention if you were good."

Heero just nodded. Then he brightened. "I can have one now though. And all the books I want."

He turned to the rack of music books and started picking carefully. Zechs reached out and handed him an O'Neals. "You want this one above all the others. It's ancient but it has every Irish tune ever done, in it."

Heero added it to the growing pile of books and music chips. "Ok, thanks. There's a lot of really ancient music out there. I think I knew . . . never mind I'll just get maudlin again."

He looked at the display of whistles and noticed something in the back of the case. It was a roll of whistle parts.

"That's odd. What's that?" Heero pointed to the roll. The owner came back into the shop and opened the case. He took the roll out of the case and placed it on the top. Heero picked up a part and eyed it then looked at the owner.

"It's a whistle set. See?" the man picked up a mouthpiece and screwed a piece of tubing into it Heero realized that it was a whistle shaft. "There's two mouthpiecesand eight shafts. With the differences in mouthpiecesyou have a complete set of eight whistles and eight fifes with only ten parts. Keeps the set small, easy to transport and makes it a lot cheaper than a full set of each, without compromising quality. Try it."

Heero took the whistle and realized that it was a C instead of the traditional D. He blew into the mouthpiece and smiled around it. It was a very nice quality instrument. It took hardly any breath at all to produce a good tone. He looked at the price, it was a little expensive; but not as expensive as the set of one-piece whistles he'd also looked at. Not to mention the eight fifes.

"I want it. I'll take all this." Heero absently rubbed at his leg.

Zechs gently bumped the back of his legs with a chair. "Here, take a load off. That leg is going to give out on you, if you don't sit down."

Heero sat and waited while the owner started putting his merchandise in a bag. Zechs noticed that he wasn't ringing anything up, but didn't say anything. The man handed Heero the bag and smiled.

"There you go. Have a nice day."

Heero glanced from the owner to Zechs then back "how much do I owe you?"

"Nothing. I owe you. The Alliance nearly drove me out of business. I used to own one of the biggest music stores in town. They made it impossible for me to get instruments for some obscure reason or another. Then . . . " he smiled at Heero. "I moved to a smaller shop and managed. I was also an information drop for the Resistance. Without the Gundams . . . well, I hate to think what might have happened. So " he opened the door and bowed slightly. "Have a nice day and enjoy the whistles."

Zechs smiled at the man and nodded. He figured his chances of getting the harp had disappeared. As he passed, the owner gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You were always honorable. It's nice to see you two getting along. That harp will be delivered tomorrow." They gave each other slight smiles.

Heero got back on the scooter with a sigh, his leg was really aching. Zechs pointed to the door at the end of the wing "That's the door I was thinking of. It leads directly to the outside, it'll cut off about four blocks. I usually come the other way because I like the walk and this way goes through an alley. Not pretty." At Heero's worried look, he hurried to reassure him "There's no danger, it's just access ways and docks, not what I want to look at."

When they reached the door Heero started to get out of the scooter but Zechs told him to stay there for a little while. He disappeared into a store Heero watched people for about fifteen minutes until Zechs came back with a backpack.

"Here. Put your stuff in this."

Heero gave Zechs a grateful look, he hadn't been looking forward to carrying the rather large bag, and managing a cane as well. He stuffed everything into the pack, stopping just long enough to caress the box containing the whistles in their protective roll.

He shouldered the backpack and then was startled as Zechs took his cane, collapsed it, and stuffed it into one of the outside pockets.

"Umm I need that . . . I . . . wha . . . ?" Heero flinched slightly as Zechs squatted down in front of him with his back turned.

"Get on. You're not walking another step. Miss O'Donnell will have my hide off in strips."

"You sure? I'm heavier than I look."

Zechs snorted, "Please. I think I can manage. I'm a Specials Officer, remember?"

Heero climbed onto Zechs' back and wrapped his legs around his waist. He carefully put his arms around Zechs' neck, he didn't want to choke him. Zechs started for the door and was slightly surprised when a woman held the door for him. Heero thanked her then put his red face in the curve of his elbow. That was weird

Zechs walked down the alley and out onto the street, they attracted some attention, but most of it was people smiling at them. Heero over heard part of a comment 'nice boy, carrying' he snickered softly in Zechs's ear.

About half way there Zechs stopped and sat Heero on a low wall, settling beside him. "I'll take a little breather. You're no heavier than a full pack, but I don't think I'm in quite as good shape as I was then either."

Heero stretched. "Well, thanks for carrying me. I wouldn't have made it. My leg aches like a bitch. I think Miss O'Donnell is gonna get both of us. But . . . it was fun . . .wasn't it?"

Zechs stretched too "yeah. It was fun. I always liked working on my suit. I didn't get to as much as I wanted because of my other responsibilities." Zechs stood up again. "We better get going."

Heero climbed back onto Zechs back and settled himself. "I wonder if my stuff has been delivered yet."

"Probably. Why?"

"You'll find out."

When they checked back in the desk guard politely asked Heero to show him what he had, so Heero pulled out the merchandise and let him go through it. He passed everything with a quick poke and shuffle. Heero was slightly shocked, he'd expected to have to give up something.

Zechs showed up with a wheel chair and glared Heero into it. Heero grumbled a little, but had to admit when 'ordered' that he wasn't feeling quite up to walking very far.

"You're going to get both of us into trouble. Open the door, please." Heero leaned over to swipe his key card, opening the door. Zechs carried him in the living room and helped him settle on the couch.

"How bad does it hurt?" Zechs was hoping that he wasn't going to have to call someone to look at Heero's leg.

"I just over did it. Another forty-eight hours and I won't even know it was broken."

"Yeah? If Miss O'Donnell comes down on me, I'm getting you back."

Heero snorted, then grinned.

"Would you bring me the box from the tea store, please? Oh, and then could you get me a pill. I think I really need it."

Zechs brought Heero the requested box and then hunted for the pain pills. When he found them, he brought one to Heero along with a glass of water. He was astonished to see the tea and accessory's Heero had purchased.

The pot was a plain brown betty pot that would go with the plain buff colored china provided by the prison. Heero had also bought a complete set of utensils for a Japanese tea ceremony, and cozies, strainers and some things that Zechs didn't recognize.

Zechs gathered the tea and boxes of accessories. He took them into the kitchen and started to put them away. Then he quickly rinsed the pot out, stuck his head around the corner to check on Heero. He saw that Heero was engrossed in a music book, so he set the kettle on to boil and made a pot of tea.

He filled the sugar bowl and the cream pitcher. No lemon. Oh, well. I don't take it. Carefully placing everything on a tray he carried it out and gently booted Heero's feet off the coffee table.

"Oh. Tea. Gimme."

Heero held out his hands for the cup and saucer with an expression of such delight on his face that he looked about six.

"There's no lemon. I don't take it. Just a half spoon of sugar."

"I don't take it either. I like mine plain." Heero sipped "Oh, man. That's good. Here."

Zechs took the package with a raised eyebrow. "For me? What is it?"

"Open it and find out. " Heero settled back with his tea and watched as Zechs opened the box.

Zechs examined the one shot with interest. And exclaimed in delight at the tea. "Well, thank you very much. But maybe I won't have that much use for it?"

Heero smirked over his cup. "Maybe, maybe not. How 'bout those Mets"

And they started an argument that lasted through two pots of tea and the rest of the afternoon.

Quatre settled in his favorite chair with his feet on a stool. Trowa sat across the tea table from him and 'played mother' pouring his tea and adding the right amount of cream.

"Well, that was fun. I've got my people looking into acquiring the rights to that game. That bunch will have it FUBAR in less than a month."

Trowa poured his own tea and sighed in contentment. "It's a beta, so maybe they made the units on the cheap so they wouldn't waste money on units that won't be in production. I'll admit that I really wanted to try it out. Heero looks good."

Quatre rested his head on the back of the chair. "Yeah. I nearly fell over when I realized who was standing behind him."

"Mmm. Me too. Never thought . . . well . . . what's up with him."

"Can't say. But he's . . . Relena . . . dammit. Trowa you know I'd tell you if it was my secret to tell."

Trowa nodded and offered more tea, Quatre held out his cup. "That's ok, Quat. If you can't tell, you can't. I respect that you won't tell even me if you promised. But I'll admit curiosity is eating me alive."

"I'll tell as soon as I can. Things are certainly looking up. The publicity from that little exercise in team work will help Zechs as well as Heero."

Trowa smiled over his cup. Quatre kept his cards close to the chest. He definitely was up to something.

They drank tea in companionable silence, playing footsie on the stool.

Duo leaned over Wufei's shoulder for a moment then asked Wufei to come with him

"Duo, I'm tired. What do you need?"

"Not much. I just thought, if you weren't real busy, we could go to the Jade Room. I've got a surprise for you. I hope you like it."

"A surprise? That's nice." Wufei sighed. Duo tried hard, but some of his surprises were less than pleasant. He braced himself for another 'treat' of loud antique rock or some similar surprise.

Duo carefully bowed at the door. He motioned gracefully, "Please be seated."

Wufei glanced around the small dining room and was surprised to see it set up for a tea ceremony. A Chinese-style tea ceremony.

He seated himself at the place of honor and prepared himself for anything.

Wufei watched as Duo stuffed the small teapot with leaves. He also scattered a few on the tabletop. Then he poured boiling water into the pot until it overflowed holding it over a large jade bowl to catch the overflow. He immediately poured the water out of the pot. he waited a few moments then he handed the pot to Wufei. Wufei took it and sniffed carefully.

"Very nice. Sweet and green without being grassy."

Wufei handed the pot back to Duo who immediately poured hot water into it and sat it aside to steep.

"Do you like a long steep, or short."

"For this, I think a short one. You should pour it now. Please."

Duo poured tea into shot glass sized jade cups. He handed one cup to Wufei holding it with both hands, fingertips holding at the middle of the cup. Wufei took it with one hand under it, the other fingertips grasping the lip. They both bowed slightly.

They sipped in appreciative silence, then Duo asked Wufei if his unworthy tea should be thrown out. Wufei smiled and allowed that it was much more than acceptable. Duo poured a second water on the tea and waited a moment, then poured a second cup.

"I don't think this tea likes a second brewing. This is . . . sour."

Wufei sipped as well. "Yes, I think you're right. That's unusual in a white. I'll send you some of a sort I have."

"Thanks, but don't bother. I don't care particularly for white. But I know you do." Duo examined the leaves on the table then pushed them to Wufei who shook his head. "What is it?"

"It's not a real good quality, I think you got cheated."

"I'll give it to you, do what you want. I don't feel cheated, the lady just picked for me. I don't know much about white tea."

Duo set the pot aside and emptied the large spill bowl into a container on the floor.

"Now there's another nice tea. Here."

Duo again stuffed leaves into the pot. Wufei realized that it was a different pot. Duo had gone to a lot of trouble for this, all the traditional forms were observed. In very nice style if he did say so.

Again Duo poured, dumped, and poured again. Wufei took the cup with a deeper bow this time.

"It's a nice green. I chose it because it's not grassy. I don't like tea that tastes like hay. I hope you like the jasmine."

Wufei tasted the tea and smiled. It was one of his favorites.

"This one is particularly nice as it was one of my mother's favorites. I've been drinking it since I was a child."

Duo smirked into his teacup. "I remembered. I wondered how tea could be a pearl so I asked the lady at the teashop. She tried to fob me off with a cheap one, but I told her I wanted the finest Dragon Pearls she had." he sipped carefully. "I think it was worth it. But . . . there's no flowers in it."

Wufei sighed happily, this was one of the finest teas he'd had in a long time. "The best Dragon Pearl doesn't have flowers in it. It's layered with flowers, a layer of tea, then gauze, then flowers. Seven times the layering for seven days and nights. It's packaged without flowers." he finished his cup and set it down. "I think this tea will allow several brewings."

So Duo brewed a second cup, then a third; while they discussed the tea, or Wufei told Duo about it. Duo listened with real interest. Now that he wasn't so worried about staying alive, he felt differently about many things. He had more patience as well.

"Well. That was interesting. There's one more tea. An Oolong that I happen to like. It's called Ti Quan Yin. I picked this one myself. It's a little more peachy than any I've ever tasted before. I think you'll like it."

For the third time Duo went through the routine of readying the pot, pouring the water, and steeping the tea. Wufei watched as Duo handled the tea things. He seemed much more practiced than you would have expected from a coffee drinking American. He suddenly realized that Duo had practiced quite a bit in order to be this skilled at the ceremony.

After tasting and appreciating the tea Duo sighed. "This is nice. Much more calming than I thought it would be. It's so different from the Japanese tea ceremony. All that washing and fussing, flowers and I can't remember what all. This is just about the tea. Very nice."

"Yes. I hold a Japanese style ceremony for Heero and he has a Chinese style for me. We've only managed . . . three I think. Squeezed them in between missions when we were holed up together. We took turns. I still think he owes me one, but at this stage of the game I just want him here so we can . . . Oh, I forgot we flipped for it. Heero gets his next . . ." Wufei looked at Duo. "Would you like to attend?"

Duo thought while he sipped his tea. They were already on their third brewing the small pot and tiny cups only allowed three or four sips per cup.

"No, I don't think so. That's for you and Heero. I'd just get fidgety and spoil it. But I thank you for the invitation . . . Wufei?"

Duo busied himself cleaning up after the tea. He nervously dumped leaves out of one of the pots into the bowl. Then he started cleaning the second pot Wufei realized that he wasn't going to speak without encouragement.

"Duo, just spit it out. At the worst I'll say no."

Duo grinned. "Yeah. Well, do you think Heero will make his parole."

"I don't think we have anything to worry about. Have you been . . . I know you have, that's stupid. You've been watching all the histrionics on the vid. By the time Quatre gets done, the parole board wouldn't dare turn him down."

"His . . . I'm not sure what that means, but if it's anything like hysteria you're right. And . . ." Duo snickered. "He's in the same facility as Zechs. That's a hoot. The fact that some dummy made Zechs his sponsor just . . . "

Wufei interrupted, a thing he rarely did. "Zechs as Heero's sponsor is just about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. "

"Yeah" Duo finished cleaning the pots by rinsing them with hot water. "I really like this kettle, heats really fast. But they seemed to be getting along fine. Heero always admired him, you know. Said he had honor, even in the last. I think Relena is being really mean to him."

Wufei sighed. "Yes, she seems to have cast him off. But . . . she's not the type to do that. I'd like to know what she and Quatre have cooked up between them."

Duo shrugged. "We'll know when the time is right. Until then I'm not gonna sweat it. Here."

"What? But. . . Duo, those pots have to be. . . "

Wufei snapped his mouth shut. The pots were old, but obviously not family heirlooms as he'd been about to say.

"I found them on the net. They're all from different L5 colonies. There's another one that we didn't use. One for white, green, oolong, and red. Along with the other things they make a really good tea set. Do you like it?" Wufei sniffled then gave up and cried softly. "Hey! . . . Wufei, I didn't mean to make you cry. I thought you'd like it."

Wufei stood up and bowed deeply. "It is quite beyond my capacity to express my eternal gratitude. It was very nice of you. Now, hug me before I cry again."

Duo gathered Wufei into his arms and just stood hugging him; rocking back and forth.

Relena sighed and settled into her chair. This was going well, Heero and the others, including her brother she was glad to see, had made a very nice picture working on the broken game. Team work between Zechs (she'd resisted his name change until the last) and the Gundam pilots had been a very pretty picture.

"Pagan, will you please quite hovering? I'm fine. Just tired. This tour is wearing me out. Go here, then there, then hurry back for more negotiations. I'm so glad Quatre agreed to take care of the publicity for our little scheme, if you can call it that."

Pagan poured her more tea, offered cookies and left. Relena sipped tea and waited. Her next appointment was with some official from one of the places she was going to visit. She was in the process of visiting all the major penal facilities, not something she was happy about, but she felt she should.

"Ah, Mr. Compton. How are you? I know you need to speak to me about my visit to your facility, but my time is severely limited so I hope you don't mind having tea with me."

Mr. Compton sat in the chair Lady Relena indicated and smiled at her. "No, not at all. I'm really a coffee drinker, but one of my charges mentioned that hot tea was very good. I tried it and find that it's not bad. Heero was such a pleasure to work with. So ready to work hard at getting . . . er . . . more socialized. Excellent young man. He said that he knew you?"

Relena realized with a small shock that this man was the warden of the facility she and Quatre had managed to get Heero into. "Heero was at . . . what. I'm sorry, I don't seem to have my notes. Where . . . ?"

"Fitzroy. Has a fancy name, but that's us."

"Oh, well. Tell me a little about your . . . campus."

So Mr. Compton told Relena about Fitzroy as they drank tea. She was going to be interested to visit this facility at least.

Zechs opened the letter with a feeling of dread. No one wrote paper letters in this day and age unless it was either very important, very private or both. In this case he knew it was both.

After reading the letter Zechs had to hold onto his temper with both hands. He wanted to scream, or smash everything in the room, or both. None of which would do him any good, and a great deal of harm. So instead, he took off running.

Heero saw him, and the letter he let drop, as he started running. He snatched it off the ground and read it in one glance. He called to a guard who was helping one of the other occupants, "I'm going after him. Do something useful."

Heero ran after Zechs, thanking fate that his leg was finally well, although Miss O'Donnell was going to give him fits again.

Zechs ran across the lawn, long legs eating up the distance in seconds. He jumped the wall in two bounds, one to the top, dodging the wire, and the other down on the other side. He continued to run on into the park on the other side of the wall. Heero stuck to him with little trouble. He might be shorter by a head, but he was still in 'battle ready condition'; Zechs had gotten soft on Mars. Although soft was a relative term.

Heero stretched out and caught up with Zechs. They were running full out so all he had to do was tap Zechs on the shoulder. He fell hard, rolling and sliding. He would up in a small depression behind some bushes.

Heero pinned Zechs flat on his belly with one arm twisted behind his back. "Stop. It's not worth it . . . I'm not letting you do anything stupid . . . hold still."

Zechs squirmed and writhed desperately, trying to shake Heero off. He didn't seem to even know what he was doing.

"Be still! You're not running. . . . I don't care what happened. You can't . . . you can't. Stop it."

Suddenly Heero was joined by Wufei and Duo. He didn't know where they'd come from and he didn't care, all he knew was they added their strength to his. Zechs was so out of it that he was a challenge, even for his great strength.

Heero wasn't a bit surprised when Zechs stilled, then broke down completely. He was pinned with Heero on his back, twisting his arm and Duo sitting on his legs Wufei had grabbed the other arm or rather hand and was patting it, frantically murmuring. "It's all right. We'll fix it. Calm down. Tell us."

Zechs finally sat up, palming the tears off his cheeks with one hand. "I feel like such a fool. I knew she wouldn't be able to keep . . . to stay . . . she . . . damn."

Wufei tugged on the hand he still held. After some shuffling and scrooching Zechs wound up with Wufei kneeling facing him in the vee of his thighs with Duo on his left and Heero on his right.

Heero stroked his shoulder while Duo ran his fingers through his tangled, half-unbraided hair. Wufei patted him on one thigh and sighed. "Can you tell us about it?"

Zechs drew a hitching breath and, while he tried to collect his thoughts, Heero produced the letter he'd kept with him. He turned to Zechs with one eyebrow raised. Zechs just nodded. Heero read the letter:

Dear Zechs

I don't understand why you've chosen to stay here. We could go back to Mars and help turn a desert into a garden.

I can't stay here any longer. I'm lonely and tired of it. If you won't show some common sense, I don't know what else to do.

Please forgive me. I'm going back to Mars. My ship leaves at 7:45 p.m. on wed. I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to wait, but my life is slipping away. I want children of my own and a real family. Something Relena is determined to deny us. So I'm going to Mars and do something constructive.

Good-by

Noin.

Duo muttered "Oh hell."

Wufei just sighed. "She wants . . . family . . . children. Not an unending fight to find normalcy. Zechs. I'm so sorry."

"I wanted a family too. But . . . Relena was right. Noin isn't strong in a way that . . . she doesn't . . . understand. It's all slipping away from me. I'm . . . sorry. I . . . "

Zechs nearly broke down again, he found his cheek resting on Wufei's shoulder. Wufei had scooted closer and now had his thighs draped over Zechs's, ankles locked behind his buttocks.

"Don't cry. Please don't. I can't fix it. But . . . maybe . . . I could help you some how."

Duo sighed. "Man that sucks. I'm really sorry. Heero . . . how . . . shit I hate to bring this up at a time like this but he's in deep shit you know?"

Wufei stroked the bangs back from Zechs's forehead and wiped at his cheeks. Duo fished around in his pockets and handed his bandana to Zechs.

"Here. Wipe, then blow; not the other way around . . . nasty. "

Zechs managed a rather watery smile. "Yes, I'm sure it is. Thank you . . . " Zechs sighed heavily "all of you. Now, all I have to do is . . . I'm in a lot of trouble. Damn!"

Heero looked around. "Where's Quatre and Trowa?"

Wufei answered, as Duo was busily combing out Zechs hair. "They went to L5. That's where we were. Seeing them off. We were on our way back home and saw you running after Zechs, so we bailed on the driver and came after you. Good thing too."

Heero grimaced, he'd hoped Quatre could help him find a way out of this for Zechs. He felt he was covered as he'd told a guard what he was doing.

Wufei patted Zechs on the back and thought hard. "Well, if we can get him back without anyone seeing . . . " he gave Heero a tired look as he started shaking his head. "Ok. That won't work. Shit"

Then the guards came up to them. None of them had noticed them and, since they weren't running or even moving, the guards had let them take care of getting Zechs calmed down. Now they came up and made the group aware of their presence.

The Sargent addressed Zechs. "I'm sorry, but we have to take you into custody. Come now. Please don't make this harder than it has to be." He nodded to Heero "Mr. Winner-Yuy."

Zechs stood up and gave Duo back his bandana with a soft thanks. Then he went to the guards and just waited. Heero gave Duo a quick kiss and caught up with him.

Zechs stood and waited as the guards put leg irons on him, then handcuffed his hands and wrapped the belly chain around his waist. Heero put out his hands to be cuffed as well. Zechs gave him a sad look, but the guard shook his head.

"You're not in any trouble. You told Frank where you were going, it was an emergency. So . . . " the man shrugged. "But . . . well, unless there's extreme extenuating circumstances, Mr. Merquise is in big trouble."

Wufei stepped up. "In the interests of justice I must say that . . . well, once he got himself under control he didn't attempt to escape from us. He's had a nasty shock and . . . a natural reaction to such a thing is to escape from the . . . pain."

"There'll be an intervention and his therapist will have the final say on what happens. Now . . . Heero, you better go back. It'll look better if you go back on your own. I'd like to let Mr. Merquise go back himself, but I don't feel that it's a good idea. Mr. Chang . . . he seems to be calmer around you. Would you mind coming with us? Just for a while."

Wufei had stepped up beside Zechs and was rubbing his back in small circles, trying to help him calm down. "I'd be pleased to come with you. Zechs, you'd like that?"

Zechs hung his head and sighed again. "I don't want to be any more trouble to you. You should just go on home and forget about me. . . like everyone else."

Wufei hated to see so proud a man brought so low. "Stupid onna. At least she could have told you herself. A Dear John letter is . . . cowardly, to say the least. I'll go with you . . . " Zechs started to say something but Wufei cut him off. "Silence seems to be a good idea."

They wound up splitting up, heading back for the facility in two groups. Zechs, Wufei and the two guards in their van, and Heero and Duo, after telling the driver where to meet them, walked back the way Heero had come. They jumped the wall into the prison and slipped through the side door where one of the guards met them.

"There you are. Did you catch him?"

Heero nodded and pulled Duo to him. "Is it ok if Duo comes in? He was with me . . . after I caught Zechs. Maybe the warden will want to talk to him too?"

"Sure. I think you're right. Whatever possessed him to do that? He's always been a model prisoner, never any trouble as far as I know. I'm sure we can get it cleared up . . ." the guard rubbed the back of his neck while he thought. "Umm . . . Heero, why don't you take Mr. Maxwell to your rooms and give him some . . . refreshments. I'll get back to you as soon as I know want we're supposed to do." He walked off muttering, 'what a mess, what a mess.'

Heero looked at Duo. "I'd rather meet them at the door. They'll bring him in through intake. Come on."

Zechs didn't resist when the guards led him to the van. Wufei helped him get in without bumping his head or tripping. He was glad to see that the guards treated Zechs with respect, even kindness. They even seemed to hover a little until Zechs was seated in the van.

When the door slammed Zechs flinched slightly so Wufei took his bound hands and began stroking the long elegant members with gentle fingers. "It'll be ok. You'll see. Don't fret"

"How can it ever be ok? Sometimes I wish they'd executed me like they wanted to. I . . .god I sound like such a whiner. All I want is . . . I'm not sure what I want anymore. Noin . . . mars . . . just." Zechs stammered to a halt and looked at Wufei, he recognized that look, Duo had turned it on him often enough.

"I don't know. But . . . you can't sustain this level of grief for long. You'll make yourself sick."

"What do you know about it? You've never lost . . . "

Zechs flinched back from Wufei's furious look.

"What do I know about loss? My wife, my colony. My best friend's freedom. Seems like quite a list to me. So don't ask me any more foolish questions. Get a grip on yourself while I try to see some way out of this mess . . . stupid onna. Why now?"

Wufei didn't realize he was now stroking Zechss' arm. Zechs didn't ask him to stop.

When they got to the facility, the guards helped Zechs out of the van and allowed him to go ahead of them into the intake area where Heero and Duo met them.

"Well this is quite a mess. Mr. Merquise, I'd suggest you get cleaned up a little. You have an emergency intervention with your therapist. If you have an explanation for this, you better . . . oh. What's this?"

Heero handed the guard Noin's letter. "Take that to him now. I'm going to take him to his rooms and help him get cleaned up like you said." The guard nodded and motioned for them to go.

As they walked down the hall no one realized that Wufei had taken point, while Heero flanked Zechs on the left, and Duo on the right, the 'real' guards brought up the rear.

"Well, well. Looks like our precious Prince Peacecraft has gotten himself into a spot of . . .

Wufei was in the fat mans face at once. It was like seeing a Bantamrooster taking on a bulldog. Unfortunately for the bulldog the little rooster had way more heart.

"Excuse me. If you have a problem take it up with the proper authorities. Now get out of the way."

The man backed down from the fury in Wufei's eyes. He started to sneer but thought better of it when he realized that Heero and Duo had also gotten between him and Zechs. He mumbled something and stepped aside.

Wufei turned to ask Zechs something and saw that he had frozen; not in place, but mentally. It was somewhat like watching the picture on a vid screen shrink away to nothing. He just turned and started down the hall again. Heero took Zechs by the arm and tugged gently. "Come on. Ignore that bastard."

"Oh, he's no bastard. He's not smart enough. Just get me to my rooms please. I . . .just . . . "

Zechs just stopped talking, as he couldn't really think of anything to say.

When they got him to his rooms, the guards left them to their own devices, only saying that they should ring if they needed anything. Also to ring when they were ready to go to the therapist's office.

They headed into the bathroom and settled Zechs on a small bench, which they pulled out into the middle of the room.

Zechs hung his head, he looked so sad, so tired, that Wufei's heart went out to him. He started unbuttoning Zechs's shirt but he realized that they had a problem. The cuffs and belly chain would keep them from taking Zechs's dirty clothes off.

"Never mind. It doesn't make any difference. I'll just go like I am."

Duo snorted. "Man, you think I'm gonna let any friend of Heero's . . . and mine. Go out lookin' like that? You're nuts. Hold still."

Duo twirled the lock pick between his fingers and Zechs could only laugh. "Where did that come from? I know they didn't search you, but the metal detector should have gone off."

"Gundanium doesn't set them off." Duo poked his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. "There you go. Now, into that shower and wash your hair. It's full of . . . Stuff."

Duo's efficient lock picking had quickly opened the locks at wrists and ankles. Zechs turned to take off his cloths, and while he was getting his shirt off, Duo picked the last lock and dropped the belly chain to the floor.

Zechs unraveled his braid and stepped into the shower. While he was showering, Heero got into his closet and got out some clean clothes for him.

Duo rummaged around and found clean towels and a comb with wide teeth.

Zechs got out of the shower and took a towel from Duo with soft thanks, he dried off and wrapped the wet towel around his head, sopping most of the water out of his hair.

Wufei found himself tucked into a niche between the back of the shower and the linen closet. He took the opportunity to admire Zechs. He was muscular without being bulky, no body builder here. Zechs was all long, lean muscle, tightly knit like a dancer or, Wufei decided, a martial artist. His eyes met Zechs in the mirror and Zechs smirked.

Heero handed Zechs the pile of clothes. "Here, get dressed before you catch a chill."

Zechs took the garments and pulled on boxers, then a pearl grey shirt. The charcoal-grey linen pants followed and he sat down to put on silk socks that matched the shirt. That was when Wufei cursed in Chinese and grabbed his hand. He had a ring of bruising around his wrist that was familiar to all of them.

Zechs pulled away gently. "Don't bother, it's nothing."

Heero sighed, this was going to be hard and Zechs didn't need anyone making it harder not even Wufei. He caught Wufei's eyes and shook his head behind Zechs back. Wufei nodded to Heero when Zechs bent to put on his shoes.

Duo interrupted to lighten the mood. "Hey, nice shirt, you better let me do something with that hair or you'll just get it all wet. Here, put this around your shoulders." Duo draped a clean, dry towel around his shoulders and walked around behind him. "I'll just comb this out." Duo started combing "Man, and I thought I had a lot of hair. Why did you suddenly start braiding it?"

So Zechs explained about the family tradition of neither braiding nor cutting his hair while Duo combed, braided and fussed about split ends. When Duo was done, Zechs stood up and found Wufei there in front of him.

"I'm so sorry. We have to put these back on. I don't think they'll take it properly . . . that we removed them without permission . . . " he smirked slightly "or a key."

Wufei gently took the elegant hands in his. He snapped the cuffs back on, careful to leave enough room that the metal didn't press into his already bruised flesh. He couldn't resist gently stroking those long fingers, Zechs gave him a bemused look, then sighed softly. While Wufei had been distracting him, Duo had snuck the leg irons back on.

"Come on. Let's get this over with. All he'll do is tell me I've lost my privileges until further notice. And tell me I have to 'get a grip'" Zechs started for the door with the others trailing after him.

Heero looked into the room ready to argue with the therapist. He was surprised and pleased to see that it was Doctor Terry.

Hello. Oh Heero and . . . Wufei and Duo?" Heero nodded. "Pleased to meet you all. Mr. Merquise . . . I don't think those are needed, are they?"

Zechs just looked at Dr. Terry for a moment, then entered as Heero pulled him out of the doorway, allowing Dr. Terry a good look at the others and allowing them to enter. They all took seats on the couch except Heero. Zechs sat on the couch, with Wufei on one side, and Duo on the other. Heero stood behind Zechs with his hands on his shoulders, which he rubbed in a comforting gesture.

Dr Terry called for a guard to come and take the shackles away. He also rather sharply called his attention to the bruising, telling him that someone needed retraining.

Zechs sat on the couch waiting for his dressing down and the announcement of his punishment. He didn't realize his hands were shaking until Duo took hold of one and Wufei the other. Dr Terry sighed, rubbed his forehead and looked at Heero. "Right in front of him, I'll ask you. Do you think he could use a mild sedative, or should we just jump right in?"

Heero considered for a moment. "I don't think jumping right in will do any good at all. He's quite aware that what he did wasn't very smart. But I don't think it was really an attempt to escape from anything more than just the pain of the moment. He would have come back on his own, but I was afraid that someone would shoot him, or something equally nasty."

"I see." Dr Terry took time to give Heero a look of delight. "That's not good. I think . . . just . . ." he rummaged around in his bag. "Heero, if you would, please." Dr. Terry poured a glass of water and handed it to Heero along with the pill in a little paper cup. Heero turned and handed them to Zechs who swallowed the pill indifferently. After drinking half the water, he returned the glass to Heero and settled back on the couch, picking up the end of his braid.

Duo sighed when Zechs settled back and took hold of his braid. He reached over and started gently petting Zechs' arm with one hand, while he clutched his braid with the other. Wufei leaned into Zechs on the other side and held his upper arm gently, squeezing it from time to time.

Doctor Terry took the time to reread Noin's letter, then shocked Zechs by sighing and remarking. "I'm not going to insult your intelligence by asking you how you feel. You're obviously extremely upset. I don't blame you. This is . . . well, I won't insult the lady, but I would have thought she could find a . . . gentler . . . no, that's not what I want to say. There is no gentle way to break up with someone, but. . . perhaps, nicer way to do it. Dear John letters are just so cold."

"Has that pill taken effect yet?"

Zechs nodded "Yes. I'm not sleepy or groggy, just slightly detached. Like . . . drifting."

Doctor Terry smiled and nodded. "Good, . . . good. Do you do any meditation techniques?"

"No, but I'm fairly good at getting in touch with my feelings. Given time."

"Take all you need. I'm sure your friends will be happy to wait."

Zechs sat thinking and stroking his braid. It was a self-comforting gesture he'd picked up quickly. Duo sat stroking his own braid and patting Zechs thigh. Wufei kept hold of Zechs arm and Heero stood behind them with one hand on Duo's shoulder and the other on Zechs.

"What are you thinking?"

Zechs rubbed at his eyes and picked up his braid again.

"You really want to know how I'm handling this. But I'm not really ready to decide how to handle it. I feel . . . I feel let down, I feel _abandoned_. Like every thing I _ever_ worked for or wanted is slipping away like sand through a too tightly clenched fist. First, Treize, then the Zero system. Relena, just turning her back._ Oh._ Ever so politely, no crudities or recriminations. But she never returns my calls and so on. Even _Mars_ doesn't want me. And after I get out of here what am I going to do? I'm not fit for much.

"So, Relena will settle me in one of her minor residences. I'll . . . garden and . . . raise dogs. The black sheep remittance man. _God_."

Heero hurt for Zechs. It was bad enough that he had lost the war, but he'd lost everything else as well. No home, no family. His profession would be denied him. What was he going to do? There wasn't that much demand for a black sheep prince.

Doctor Terry nodded, made a note, and eyed the group with a pleased expression. "Well, I don't see much need for you to be so negative. But if that's how you feel that's how you feel. I'm sure there's something you're able to do. We just have to find out what it is."

Duo rolled his eyes and Heero sighed. Wufei openly sneered. "Yes, there's such a need for Gundam pilots in these days of peace. Please don't patronize him. It's . . ."

Zechs patted Wufei on the leg. "Be nice. He's only trying to help. Better than the last guy by a long shot. He kept trying to make me admit that I'm . . . a failure. And I am. I thought that what we were doing was right. Treize . . . he was so persuasive. I'm just so tired of all this struggle. I think I'd like raising dogs. Or maybe horses."

Wufei snorted rudely, but Duo brought it out in the open. "You're just as fucked as we are. Heero took the hit for us, but we're suffering just as much as he is. And you're so alone it makes me want to cry."

Then he blinked "Umm, . . . dude? My braid. And . . ." They both realized at the same time that Zechs had been stroking Duo's braid while Duo had been self-comfortingwith his.

Everybody started laughing. Zechs leaned back in the couch and wound up with his head on Heero's belly while Heero did his best to hug the other three. Doctor Terry was treated to the sight of the three Gundam pilots doing their best to comfort their former enemy.

Dr. Terry nodded. "Well, I'm glad to see that you four are getting along. I see that Heero is due for a furlough next week. Zechs . . . as his sponsor you'll be going along. I hope you have a nice time. Oh, and all your visitors passes have been approved. All your friends are free to visit you anytime they want. Within proper hours of course."

Zechs just raised his eyebrow at the doctor. He'd thought his privileges would be revoked.

Dr. Terry obviously knew exactly what he was thinking, so he shook his head. "We're making allowances for extreme mental anguish. This is much better than your former reactions."

Duo made a questioning sound and Zechs explained. "When I was first incarcerated, I tended to take my . . . ire out on the furnishings. But smashing things leads to cleaning up after, so I . . . broke myself of the habit. I really don't like house work."

Heero snickered. "And who was it just the other day telling me I needed to dust."

"Me and take my word for it. You don't want to wait until it gets out of hand. A little along is better than having to spend the day cleaning up and then listening to a lecture by the warden about how this facility has standards. As if."

Wufei made a rude noise some where between a snort and a choke. "No one has higher standards, or had, than the Specials. I'm sure you did plenty of time on your knees making sure the floor was clean."

"Oh yes, and polishing the porcelain. And cleaning out the cockpit of my mobile suit. That's one of the reasons that I hate cleaning."

Duo and Heero both had to laugh. The vision of Zechs on his knees scrubbing floors was just too much.

Duo sighed softly. "Look, Doc. I really think it would be good for Zechs if he could go on furlough with Heero. He's welcome. Would you make sure he can go? "

Zechs started to say something, but Duo just turned around and put his hand over Zechs mouth. "You're comin' . . . don't argue. Heero will tell you arguing with me is an exercise in futility. So just stick a sock in it already."

Wufei added his two-cent worth to the conversation. "It is unkind of you to make us beg. So we will just expect you to acquiesce gracefully."

Zechs startled them all by starting to cry again. He was so plainly out of control that Heero pushed and poked him until he stood up. Somehow they wound up with Zechs standing in the middle of the room holding Wufei while Duo stroked and petted his tightly braided hair and Heero held him from the back.

Doctor Terry touched Heero on the shoulder. "Do you think you could get him to his quarters? I'd like to get him to bed. He's not handling this very well. I don't blame him. He's had everyone he ever loved ripped from him. But we need to get him calmed down before he has a complete break down. I'll sedate him and set up a series of intensive sessions . . . oh, . . . Heero?" Heero spared the Doctor a quick glance. "I'm very pleased with your progress. I've been transferred here until further notice. . . . Let's get him to bed."

They managed to get Zechs to his quarters and into bed. He was cooperative to the point of docility, so they undressed him and tucked him into bed. Doctor Terry offered him a pill, which he took, and asked Heero if he would stay with him. Heero agreed to do that and had Wufei see him to the door.

After the Doctor left, Heero took Duo to the living room for some quality time and Wufei sat down in a chair by the bedside to watch Zechs sleep.

Authors notes:

When brewing tea, some tea leaves can be brewed more than once. Each successive brewing is called a 'water'.


	16. Teamwork

The Price They Paid: Teamwork 16

Betaed by an extremely patient Skippyscatt.

Zechs woke to the feeling of someone caressing his wrist. All he could think was that he'd finally gone round the bend, snapped his crackers, lost his marbles. He decided that an enumeration of the various ways to say he was crazy was counter productive and opened his eyes.

Wufei smiled at him and apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't think I would wake you."

"What are you doing?" Zechs realized that the ache in his wrist was fading.

Wufei scooped a dab of cream from the small jar on the bed. "It's an old family cure. Good for bruising, minor abrasions and sprains. Hold still." Wufei finished with that wrist and reached over to take the other in his hands. Zechs decided it felt too good to resist.

When Wufei finished with his wrists, he went to the foot of the bed and carefully pulled Zechs socks off, so that he could salve his ankles. He was astonished at the feelings the sight of those long, narrow, high-arched feet caused.

"Chang, don't." Zechs tried to pull his foot out of Wufei's hands.

"I will. There's no need for you to suffer. It'll just take a minute or two." Wufei simply laced his fingers with Zechs toes and bent them back gently. Zechs gave up, well aware that if he put too much pressure on the grip, it would hurt. "I'm not asking if it's ok. I'm telling you, I will. Hold still."

Wufei gently stroked the salve on bruised ankles, causing Zechs to sigh in relief. He hadn't realized how much it was hurting until the pain was gone. Now he started to relax as Wufei not only massaged his ankles, but also started massaging his foot. It felt so good that he just let him. He couldn't really remember the last time someone had just done something for him since he was little; except for Heero and now Wufei.

"You don't have to do that, you know."

Wufei snorted "I rarely do what I have to do anymore. I outgrew that particular stupidity during the war. I've done what I was supposed to do for much too long, all it did was lead to regrets. Now I do as pleases me; or pleases someone I like. Shut up and enjoy it. You're way too tense. Acupressure."

Zechs groaned at that cryptic remark and then sighed as Wufei found the source of his tension and applied his thumbs to the pressure points in his foot. "I'm very good at this. I was trained in much more than Gundam piloting. In fact, few people know that I was actually a scholar. I wanted to study classical Chinese poetry. Meilan used to make fun of me for it. I also was interested in holistic medicine. Thus the acupressure and acupuncture, also cupping and moxibustion. I'm not too good at herbology as I wound up involved in the war, but Quatre is very good at that, so we trade off. Zechs? . . . " Wufei had to laugh softly, Zechs was practically purring, his whole body was limp. "Well, this is going well. Now the other foot, please."

Zechs just lifted the other foot and allowed Wufei to take it in his strong, slender hands and work his magic on it as well. Wufei continued his massage, pressing on the nodes in the arch of his foot until all the tension was flowing out of his body. Neither of them noticed Duo and Heero standing in the door watching.

Heero stood behind Duo with his chin on Duo's shoulder. He noticed that Duo as nearly as tall as he was now, which was nice. He whispered in Duo's ear and Duo nodded, so Heero gently cleared his throat. Wufei turned his head and smiled at them, clutching the foot Zechs tried to withdraw and continuing his massaging, much to Zechs embarrassment.

"Wufei, you . . . stop."

Duo grinned. "He really gives a good foot massage, don't he. Make a really good healer, but . . . 'Fei. You really should stop, he's gonna self destruct in a minute." Duo took pity on the red-faced prince and Wufei, noticing the incandescent blush, gently put his foot down on the bed.

"Don't tense up. You'll ruin all my work. Just lie there for a minute and let it settle in. Duo, would you get him a clean pair of cotton socks. These silk ones are nice, but with that cream, they'll be too slick. I don't want him to fall."

"Sure, where are they?" But Heero had already gone to get them. Duo and Wufei noticed that he seemed to know where things were and exchanged a significant look. They weren't going to have as much trouble integrating Zechs into the group as they'd thought. Heero brought back the socks and handed them to Zechs who put them on without comment. Just groaning softly as he realized that the tension he'd carried in his shoulders forever was gone for the moment.

Duo disappeared into the living room and called back, "Phone's ringing. I'll get it for you." Zechs groaned again only not in pleasure this time. It could only be one person and he didn't want to talk to him. Relena's personal assistant was a stuffy little man, fussy and rigid. He called at least once a week with a laundry list of complaints and insisted that Zechs send Relena a letter of apology for his misdeeds. Of course Zechs refused and usually went into an hour-long sulk. Heero grimaced.

Duo's voice was angry as he answered, "No, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but I'm not bothering him right now. He's upset enough without you adding to it. If Relena wants to give him a dressing down, I'd suggest she call him herself . . . well, lets put it in language you won't misunderstand. Fuck you and the horse you staggered in on sideways. Don't call again. Asshole." The click of the handset on the cradle was loud in the silence.

Zechs groaned again. He expected to hear from Relena now and he really didn't want to hear her scorn. "Oh, God. I don't need this. I really don't. I can't stand much more of her . . . disapproval. Dammit. I'm not a . . . fuck, give me the damn phone. I'll call back. . . ."

Wufei snarled, "No, you won't. If it's beneath her to call herself, you don't need to worry about it. I want tea. Be a good host and fix me some." But Heero was already rattling around in the kitchenette making it. They all sat down with a cup, Heero on the love seat beside Duo, Zechs in his favorite chair with Wufei sprawled elegantly across the couch, feet on the poof, Zechs had to move his feet to accommodate him.

Zechs leaned his head back on the back of the chair with his eyes slitted. His head ached now. "Ssssss. Head ache. Damn."

Heero finished his tea. "You've had quite enough excitement for one day. We'll go and let you get some rest. That sedative should still be working."

"Not." Zechs rolled his head back and forth on the headrest.

Wufei jerked his head at Heero and Duo. Duo took the hint at the same time Heero did, they made their excuses and slipped out quietly leaving Wufei to brew a calming tea, persuade Zechs to drink it, and then get him back to bed. Wufei tucked him in carefully, shut the curtains, and slipped out quietly, smiling to himself. He had a few words to say to Miss Princess Perfect Pink. Duo, you're so disrespectful.

The resultant call left Wufei with a lot to think about

It took them several days to get Heero's furlough, as he wouldn't go until Zechs could go too. But when they got it, it was a forty-eight-hour full freedom one. That meant that they could go anywhere in the city as long as their sponsor was with them. Their sponsor was Quatre, back from his most recent trip, which meant that they could go almost anywhere.

Zechs packed as Heero directed, wondering where they were going, but he was just happy to be going anywhere at all. He realized that he hadn't been off the grounds, except to go to the mall, in over six months.

Heero stuck his head in the door. "You coming, or did you change your tiny mind."

Zechs gave him a casual one-finger salute, causing him to snicker and withdraw his head. Zechs shouldered his backpack and settled it comfortably, wondering again exactly what was up. He checked the list he'd been faxed one more time and shrugged, whatever they were up to, he was all for it.

"Get in let's go come on get the lead out."

Zechs blinked, he'd heard about Duo's legendary ability to swear, scream, give orders, and pilot, all at one time, but this was his first example of any of it and he was frankly stunned. The entire sentence had been tossed at his head as Duo snatched his backpack and Heero's, dumped them in the back of the van, shoved him into the open door, and jumped in after him, dragging Heero after.

"Holy crap. Will you snap too? We've got just about a half hour drive to fill you in before breakfast then we're going to the Widow Maker and show up all the new recruits the mother fuckers are hopeless and hapless so I'd like to show them how a real Specials handles an obstacle course he's never seen before. Then we're going camping overnight and I hope you can cook over an open fire because I don't and no one but me can stand dry ration bars and cold water, bunch of wusses so . . . Heero dumbass get off me, later for you will you drive so I can give you head? We're supposed to meet Quatre and Trowa at the course Wufei get that fucking stupid look off your face Heero has a driver's licence don't you? I already dismissed the driver so I hope you do."

Heero just waited for him to wind down and take a breath. Zechs felt somewhat out of the loop, but patiently waited for someone to translate. Wufei covered his eyes with one hand and flapped the other at Duo.

"Maxwell, will you shut your mouth for three seconds? The only one of us who has a drivers licenceis Zechs, unless it was revoked. Was it?" Wufei uncovered his eyes and rolled one at Zechs who shook his head. "Well, then. He can drive. I'll sit in front with him and . . . Duo, if you start giving Heero head in the back seat, I'll tie you both up and stuff you into different parts of the van. Nasty mouthed L2 brat."

Duo stuck his tongue out at Wufei and twinkled at Zechs. "He's a virgin, you know." Wufei howled and jumped onto Duo who yelped and tried to hide behind Heero. Heero pulled him out and pushed him into the seat beside Wufei. Zechs forcibly reminded himself that the oldest of them was only . . . eighteen? He wasn't sure. But this was getting out of hand rapidly.

"That's enough! I will drive, with Wufei in the front with me. Duo, you will NOT give Heero head while I'm driving. Nor will you do so anytime we're confined in a small space together. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

Duo grinned and gave him a sloppy salute. "Sir. Yes, Sir. Certainly, Sir." Zechs just snorted, got into the driver's seat, and motioned Wufei to join him. Heero pinned Duo in the back seat and spent most of the drive necking with him Zechs only had to tell someone to 'keep hands above the belt' once, and then it was Heero, whose wandering hands had wound up on Duo's rounded ass.

Wufei navigated, so they were at the restaurant where they were to meet Trowa and Quatre in less than the allowed half-hour. Zechs parked neatly and turned just in time to see Duo pull away from Heero with a soft 'we're here.' Heero smiled at him and gave him one last quick kiss then reached over him to open the door and shove him out. Zechs blinked and Duo swore. Wufei snorted.

"Do they have any self-controlat all?"

"No."

"Then how did you manage to . . . defeat my troops. Self control and discipline were ground into them from the beginning."

"Oh, private life and missions are two completely different things. You don't want to see Shinigami and the Perfect Solder. Duo and Heero are deadly, don't get the wrong idea. We all dreamed of the day thatwe wouldn't have to fight every minute of every day and dream of fighting at night. Seeing that they haven't had private time together in nearly . . . I've lost track. A long time. I think they are showing a great deal of self-control. Come on, let's go in before they scandalize the place and get us ejected before we even get a table."

Wufei was wrong about getting ejected, when they got in the restaurant Duo was happily talking the waitress into getting the cappuccino machine turned on early and Heero was holding a chair for an elderly lady to be seated. Zechs sighed, "Those two are dangerous to my sanity. How do you deal with Maxwell in full cry?"

"I'm glad to see him happy. He's been so miserable without Heero . . . you don't even want to know how bad it was, at times I was afraid for him. But . . . I will warn you that he does tend to get a little crazy, Heero, hopefully, will keep him from blowing up something."

Zechs was forcefully reminded that these 'boys' were trained terrorists who could, would, and had demolished entire military installations all by themselves. All five of them, working together, had stopped one of the greatest war machines in history dead in its tracks. If they wanted to act childishly they had the right.

They were also good-heartedyoung men who loved and laughed, hurt and cried; just like everyone else. Zechs was well aware that when you lost the ability to cry you weren't quite human anymore. 'mushy stuff' wasn't just for girls, guys just hid it better.

Wufei turned to call Zechs and noticed the way he was watching Heero and Duo. 'Um . . . they won't really do anything to embarrass us. Not in public. Come on."

Zechs smiled at Wufei. "I was just thinking. Heero and I tried in a very serious way to off each other. Now he's the only friend I've got. Life can be seriously warped at times."

Wufei gave Zechs an indignant look. "and I'm . . . left over rice? What! We all like you. You were never . . . cruel. You abided by the rules of combat and fought with honor. We just . . . didn't agree on things. We could drop this conversation any time now."

"Yes. It's getting . . . unpleasant. I'm ready to turn over a new leaf as the saying goes and I'd . . . like to be friends . . . with all of you, if that's possible."

Wufei settled into a seat at the table Heero had picked and smiled at Heero who gave him an inquiring look. "I think that it's up to Heero, as you and he have the most to . . . forgive, if you take my meaning." Heero started to say something heated. "Heero . . . he brought it up. I think we should get it all out in the open and get it over with. I don't have any objections to Zechs. Do you?" Heero just snorted "Duo?" Duo gave him his patented wide-eyed-innocent look. "That leaves Quatre and Trowa and . . ."

"What leaves us?" Quatre settled into one of the two empty seats, Trowa took the other. Wufei filled them in quickly and Quatre announced with finality. "We like you. You never did anything to us that we wouldn't have done to you, given the chance. You never tortured any of us, or tried to have us executed. So . . . I don't see a problem. Pass the sugar, please." and that settled that.

Breakfast was fascinating to Zechs as he'd actually never bothered to watch teenageboys eat. When he'd been that age, he'd been too busy trying to get his belly full and later he'd eaten in the officers mess with men twice and three times his age. Now he watched in amazement as Duo negligently folded a pancake into quarters and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth, talking intelligibly around it. Heero was calmly buttering his fifth biscuit and nodding, ducking a waving fork. Quatre seemed intent on inhaling French toast as fast as the waitress could bring it and Trowa was doing the same with scrambled eggs, cottage fries and sausage. Wufei was a very neat eater, but the amount and variety of dishes he ate left no doubt in Zechs mind that he also was still growing.

"Hey, you gonna eat or daydream. If you don't want that I'll . . ."

Zechs slapped Duo's hand away from his slice of ham and then cut it in half. He forked it into a compact bundle and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling, "Geer orf. Mine ge' yur' o' " then he set himself to nourishing his own body. Duo noticed that he ate as much, in a completely elegant fashion, as he and Heero together.

When they were almost finished, a woman approached hesitantly. "Excuse me, but are you . . . I don't want to cause trouble. I just wondered if you were Heero Yuy. You look like him." They all stiffened, but as she was only holding a book and a pen, they relaxed. She didn't look the type to kill someone with a pen. So Heero admitted that he was. She offered him the book. "Would you please autograph your picture for me. I don't care what a lot of people think. You saved us from the Alliance and Oz and . . . well . . . all those crazy people. Please don't say no."

Heero flushed scarlet but took the book and autographed the picture. Then he handed the book to Duo saying, "I'm sure you would like Duo Maxwell's autograph as well. And . . . " the woman suddenly gave a little squeal and a hop. "Yes I thought so." They handed the book around the table, each one of them autographing their picture. Wufei was the last of the group to sign, he handed the book to Zechs who just handed it to the woman.

She blinked then said softly. "Would you mind? You're in here too. You're a gundam pilot, it says so right in the book. Please?" So Zechs signed, handed the book back, and picked up his coffee cup with a strange tightness in his chest.

"See, the war has been over for . . . almost two years now? And people are beginning to forget things. Anything that's nasty . . . unpleasantness of any sort. All gone. Only heroes, even misguided ones . . . . well, enough goo. Let's get out of here." Duo scooted his chair out and headed for the register. "I got it."

Duo paid at the desk, flirted with the girl a little and hurried out to hop into the van, now full of bodies. Heero and he sat at the back, with Quatre and Trowa in the center seat, Zechs drove, with Wufei still navigating. There was a lot of laughing and teasing, pointing at sights and general mayhem. Zechs gave up trying to maintain order when he realized that he didn't particularly care if they were stared at or not.

As they drove, Duo kept up a flow of chatter that Zechs found endearing. He compared things to things in the colonies, not always in a complimentary light. Seeing flowers, he told a story about the first time he saw real flowers.

Wufei smiled at Zechs. "If he gets on your nerves just tell him to shut up."

"I don't understand how you can be so rude to him. The . . . Duo obviously loves you all. It's not . . . "

Wufei sighed and shook his head. "And we love him too, but . . . imagine being confined to a small safe house with all thatenergy. He can drive a person to murder. . ." Wufei turned around and snarled, "Maxwell, will you please shut up?"

Duo just laughed, much to Zechs's surprise and settled down against Heero. "Sorry, 'Fei. I'm just really excited. Heero and Zechs get to see my baby."

Zechs nearly drove into the ditch.

When they reached the facility Zechs couldn't help grinning. He'd thought he'd never see such a thing again and had regretted it. He regretted that he wasn't in the condition he'd been in during the wars. He still worked out but not with that intensity.

Duo hopped out, chattering. "Now you get to see my baby. You'll love it. I'm a fiend when it comes to obstacle courses. Some guys say that the full course is impossible but I run it every day and they've all seen me do it so I don't know how they can say it's too hard they're all a bunch of pussies. I got some of the obstacles from plans the Specials used for their course. And I made some up myself. You'll be needing stuff. We'll get you set up at the HQ and then we can be on our way. We'll be facing . . . mmmuuurffff?" Heero had put his hand firmly over Duo's mouth.

"Lover, slow down before you turn blue." Heero removed his had and replaced it with his lips. Trowa poked Quatre and they wound up kissing too.

Wufei rolled his eyes and snarled, "Will you get a grip, or a room. Or maybe a cold shower. Geez!"

Zechs solved the problem by dragging Duo by one arm and Quatre by the back of his shirt. Duo yelped but laughed, Quatre didn't make any objections just snickered. Zechs hauled them for several feet until he was sure he'd broken up the incipient necking session.

"Save that for after. I want to see Duo's baby." He gave Duo a stern look. "I nearly had a heart attack with that one, by the way. Now, get it together and act . . . no, never mind, you are acting your age. Act your IQ. Come on."

They entered the building and Zechs saw that it was a combination of meeting rooms and locker room complexes, complete with showers, whirlpools and first aid stations. He was sure that all of them were needed.

As they approached the desk Zechs held back waiting to see what was happening. Duo smiled at the older man in the slight shadows behind the desk and accepted a box from him with a thank you. The others took their turn and accepted their boxes. When Heero got to the desk he wondered if there would be one for him, he should have known better. Of course there was one for him.

Duo stuck his head into the window. "Thanks Gunnie. But there's one more. You'll have to measure him, but he gets full kit. Don't short him 'cause he's not a recruit. Give him full respect, ok?"

"Sure, sir." Then the man snapped to so hard that he nearly hurt himself. "Sir! Commander. I . . ." he saluted and held it.

Zechs saluted back. "At ease Gunnie. I'm glad to see that you landed on your feet. Can you oblige me?"

The gunnie relaxed and reached to one side producing a box just like he'd given to the others. "Here . . . I made it up for sentiments sake. I never thought that I'd ever have a chance to issue it. I hope your sizes haven't changed too much."

Zechs accepted the box murmuring his thanks. The gunnie saluted again then sat down with a rather silly grin on his face. Zechs couldn't believe the man remembered his sizes after all this time.

"Come on. No day dreaming. We need to be changed and on the field in . . ." Duo looked at his watch, "thirty minutes. Plenty of time."

In the locker room they all stripped off and started changing into the UOTD, which was urban camouflage. Duo poked Wufei who looked where he was pointing. Zechs was standing with his back to the room, stepping into his pants. His back was beautiful, strong, muscular, and lean. And scarred.

They weren't easy to see, in fact, the only reason they were noticeable now was the angle of lighting. No one who wasn't a solder or doctor would have known what they were looking at. The scars were only visible as shadows. The bright lights in the locker room showed them as slightly darker lines across the planes of muscle.

"Shit. I'm gonna so kill someone!"

Zechs started and turned to see five furious faces staring at him. He realized what had happened and raised an eyebrow. "What? It's nothing. Happened years ago."

"Who dared? . . ." Wufei reached out, then drew his hand back again.

Zechs shook his head. "The Headmaster of the school I was at. I . . . wasn't amenable to gentler discipline."

Wufei snarled. "The school Board of Directors should have been notified"

"Oh they were. In fact they had to sign off on . . . this." Zechs realized he was going to have to elaborate or he was going to spend a great deal more time with this than he wanted to. "Don't look so surprised. Charity students are held to a stricter standard of . . ."

"Charity! What are you talking about? You . . . charity?" Duo was indignant.

"When I fled Sanq, I became an orphan. No one wanted me. I was much too hot an item so I was sent to a school that would accept me as a charity student. I hated the place with a passion. I ran away, I fought. I was insolent to every member of the faculty. Everything I shouldn't have done I did. The last time I was beaten I ran away and . . . attracted all the wrong kind of attention. The Krushrenadas recognized me and came to get me. Then I went to the Specials Academy, I was . . . tough, rebellious, arrogant, and in general, a pain in the ass to my instructors . . . I was also so good it frightened them. So . . . what are we going to do?"

No one asked any more questions, his closed expression and firm change of subject left them with no choice.

Duo paired them up easily. "Ok, what we're going to do is put on a small show for some of the more difficult but worthwhile trainees. These guys are worth a little extra effort because of their special skills, but they aren't exactly team players . . . yet. So . . . me n' Heero. Quat', you and Tro' and Wufers, that leaves you n' sexy Zechsy."

Zechs choked and started laughing. He laughed so hard he had to sit down. "Well. Sexy. Maxwell, you'll be the death of me yet."

Wufei just snorted and smacked Duo in the head.

The sight that greeted the rather large group of trainees was something out of an Oz nightmare. Duo and Heero came out of the building first checking their guns. Then Quatre, with Trowa directly behind him, Quatre had his head turned slightly smiling softly as Trowa bent to him. Then came Wufei small, slight, wiry and dark. Directly behind him was Zechs tall, broad shouldered, muscular and light. The combined force of personalities was like a wall.

"Ok people listen up the idea is to accomplish the objective in as little time a possible without losing _anyone_. There will be times when someone has to be sacrificed this is _not _one of them. You all go first while we watch. Then we go. There are two scenarios so we don't know any more than we would from a briefing. You," Duo pointed to a man. "Pick one. Then you have twenty minutes to set yourselves up and get started. We'll just lounge around and watch you all make fools of yourselves. As you know every inch of the place is viewed by cameras, they'll all be shown on the monitors here in the theater. Just like watching a movie." There were some rude remarks. "Yeah? You assholes couldn't cooperate with each other for nothing. Go. "

So the group went. And it was a giant fiasco. They lost three men in the first two minutes as they charged into the first room and walked right into a trap which 'blew' them up. The bright orange paint splattered them liberallyand the judges 'tapped' them out.

Duo groaned, "Dammit, three toe tags in under five minutes they're so not gonna make it. Fuck."

Zechs sighed and nodded. "They can't cooperate for more than two minutes. If I was training them I'd wash most of them out now."

Quatre shrugged. "I'm getting rid of anyone who causes one of his fellows to fail or die. Those who get killed or left behind have a second chance. I want to be fair. But I won't have a bunch of fuckups in my force."

Duo, Trowa and Wufei groaned, this particular rant while dear to their hearts was getting old.

Zechs raised an eyebrowand waited, Quatre didn't make him wait long.

"Your dear sister while one of my best friends has fucked up royally. That foolishness about dissolving borders has turned around and bitten all of us firmly on the ass. The policeare spread way too thin they can't take care of everything so I'm organizing my own security force. I don't intend to loose anymore information to corporateespionage or have anymore trouble on Winner owned stations. Some of my mining colonies are completely out of hand. These people are all supposed to be some of the best mercenaries around but they can't work together. I'm not sure what to do but get rid of them. But I want to be fair. It's just. . . dammnit!"

Trowa put his arm around Quatre and hugged him. "Love, you're doing the best you can. Don't take it so hard. We don't need them if they can't follow simple orders. What's so hard about go in get the info and get out. We didn't make it that hard."

Zechs nodded his understanding. "I see. Cooperation is necessary, very much so, but sometimes it's also necessary to sacrifice one man to get the mission accomplished.

Duo gave Zechs an assessing look. "Yeah but it's also necessary to be able to tell the difference between necessity and convenience. These scenarios are set up so that they can be fulfilledwithout the sacrifice of a single man. But they have to cooperate to the fullest."

Zechs just hummed softly and started thinking hard. As soon as they got the mission statement he was going to be ready with some ideas at least.

As they watched the other group through the surveillancecameras set up throughout the complex they all realized that this whole bunch were 'wild eyed opportunists' as Heero put it. They were all determined to be the one who came out on top. So they were as determined to cut each other's throats as they were to accomplish the mission. Duo watched eyes narrowed, arms crossed tightly over his chest, bouncing on the balls of his feet. In the end none of them survived.

"Jesus fucking H Christ. The whole bunch of you wound up dead. Shit on a stick. You're all gone. Get your shit and git. Get the hell out of my fucking sight. Bunch a' wannabe heroes. Go . ."

But several of the men had different ideas. Their complaints added up to you couldn't have done it either, so Duo opened the package of intel for the second 'mission', shared it with all of them and snarled. "Watch the experts do it right."

Their objective was to break into a facility (run the full cooperation obstaclecourse) hack into a computer, retrievedata and insert a virus then get out without losing a man. Not that hard. Unless everything went to hell which with Duo setting up the parameters you could more or less count on.

So they started by cutting through an electrified fence, Duo jumped it with some wire he produced from what he called his 'magic vest' Heero started the cut with cutters he took from his own vest and Zechs finished it. Then they crawled across several yards of open field and under a concertinawire fence which Quatre held up for the others so they had a quick slide under without risking getting caught and tugging on the wire hard enough to set off any alarms.

Then they had to climb a slick concrete wall. Zechs stood at the bottom and cupped his hands throwing the others up so they could reach the top. That left him at the bottom with no way to climb it. He watched for a moment wondering what to do. They all had to make it or the mission failed. He wasn't surprised to see Heero drop upside down from the top by theknees,someone was holding his legs but he couldn't see who. Heero crossed his arms over his chest holding an arrangement of belts. It made a ladder of sorts. Zechs jumped got his foot in the belt then grabbed Heero's belt and hauled himself up climbing Heero like a monkey. They dragged Heero up to sit on the top of the wall and sort out the belts.

After getting redressed they took stock. The next three parts of the course were a run, dodging through some false walls arranged to simulate and office complex and finding some way to hack into the 'computer' room.

The run was easy Zechs found that even though his legs were longer he didn't have to hold back they all kept up. The office was a little harder as it was booby- trapped, but Heero and Duo as demolitions experts took point. Zechs was the one to see the trap on top of the file cabinetsand point it out. Duo remarked that Lyons was a 'fuckin' genius' at traps, almost as good as me.'

They disarmed the device, but when Trowa wanted to take it with them Duo vetoed the idea saying 'leave it. It might be motion sensitive just the ticket to trap us.' Wufei seconded and Trowa didn't argue, traps weren't his forte. Zechs was impressedwith them so far. He'd frankly expected to be left behind at the wall, his abandonment wouldn't count as losinga man, or would it?

Heero sat down at one of the desks and started hacking into the system. "Who the fuck designed this damn thing?"

Duo smirked. "That would be me. In pieces. And no, I don't have a clue. Someone else patched the system together for this exercise so I wouldn't. Wouldn't be fair to the other team."

Heero grumbled a little but typed furiously. Finally he swore and reached over to smack Duo in the head.

"Ow! Hey! You're the hacker in the bunch . . . hack." Duo reached over and started typing on another keyboard. It was like watching two parts of a machine. As Heero found his way into the system, Duo started retrieving the data.

"You're a fiend, Duo. Who ever heard of storing data like this. It's like pealing an onion. . ._Damnit!_"

Zechs flinched and looked over his shoulder. He was guarding their backs as the others cleared the floor, searching for any guards and more traps. "What!"

"I almost lost an entire layer of data. Shut up." Heero didn't look away from the monitor.

Suddenly Duo gave a soft crow of triumph. "Gotcha. Damn, I got to find out who set this up. He's really good. Fiendish, but good. . . . Heero, watch out for a worm."

Heero just nodded and kept typing. Duo inserted a flash card into a USB port and started saving the scavenged data to it. It took them another five minutes to finish the job. While Heero finished saving the last of the files Duo popped another flash card from a pocket and at a nod from Heero he disconnected the data flash and put the new card in. He tapped a few keys to download the virus and leaned back in his chair.

"Man, that was fierce. We get it all?"

Heero nodded, pocketed the data flash card and stood up. He checked his weapon, smiled softly at Duo and motioned to Zechs to go first.

They found the others still checking cubicles.

After clearing the 'floor' they entered a stair well. "It's supposed to be night so watch out for night security. There's got to be some men in here somewhere. Lyons wouldn't let me get away without facing some of his pets. And by pets I don't mean lap dogs. Let's go." Quatre slipped up the first half flight and pressed himself against the wall. He was proud that Duo had managed to get a man like Lyons on his side.

"Clear!" Quatre leaned back against the wall again after taking a quick peek up the stairs. He held his 'weapon' at his shoulder and waited for Trowa to 'jump' him. They went up the stairs the lowest man moving up to take a place behind the head of the line to be the next to go. This took the pressure off the 'point' man as it was a different one of them each time. That way no one got stale.

Quatre whispered. "Remind me why we're going out this way?"

"So we have to face a bunch of different challenges, it'd be too easy to go out the way we came in. Shhh!"

They were faced with a decision to make. They were at an intersection, left right or straight ahead. They bunched up and listened. Nothing. But that didn't mean much. Lyons as Duo pointed out was a 'crafty asshole' and had lots of badness up his sleeve.

Badness which came out to play just then. A group of men came at them from straight ahead, running into the hall from a door about fifteen feet up the hall. Duo tossed a flash-bang at them and Trowa and Zechs gunned them down with ruthless efficiency, but they'd made way too much noise.

"We're gonnahave t' make a run for it. Fuck. I was so hoping this wasn't gonna get this messy. But whoop ti do, and here we go." Duo nearly made Zechs jump out of his skin as he started laughing. Not the happy laugh of a seventeen year old boy it was the maniacal laughter of Shinigami.

Wufei sighed and snarled, "Fuck. Ok here we go. Zechs make sure you don't touch him until you're sure he knows its you. He tends to stab first and ask questions later."

Zechs twisted his head in an odd manner making his neck pop. "And I don't? Let's go."

Heero closed his eyes. "Which way . . . which way . . . got it. Left. We can't go right or straight ahead. Those are the two easy ways out so they'll expect us to try one of those. We go left."

Zechs got a sudden cold chill,which was banishedwhen one of the 'corpses' sneezed. No flashbacks, please, no

They headed out in a closed formation with Zechs, as tallest, at the back. Then Heero and Duo one on each side of the hall, after them Wufei then Quatre and Trowa as another pair. They checked doors clearing them with quick fierce glances. They left the doors open behind them especially if they opened out.

The sound of slamming doors alerted them to the men coming up behind them. Zechs found Quatre laying on the floor at his feet with Trowa crouched behind him this made it possible for all three of them to get a good field of fire as Zechs would shoot over Trowa's head and Trowa over Quatre's. When the attack came they were ready for it and it didn't take much time for them to again wipe the field.

Quatre grumbled, "This is way too easy, something bad is up ahead, I just know it." Trowa patted him on the shoulder whispered something in his ear that made him snicker and they started on.

Heero motioned right at the next intersection and Duo moved that way right into a dead end. He gave Heero a questioning look and Trowa sighed. He hated crawling through air ducts he always felt as if he was about to get stuck. Zechs growled, if they weren't big he would get stuck.

Wufei shook his head. "Won't go. Zechs won't fit. No man left behind. Remember." Heero just nodded then motioned to the vent Duo had opened. It was huge.

"Intake. Come on." Heero motioned for Zechs to go first. "If he doesn't fit we'll go another way. This is the shortest."

Zechs stuck his head into the intake and then pulled it out again. "No go. Shoulders are too wide. Not a skinny teenager anymore."

Wufei eyed the breadthof the shoulders in question and snorted. 'Never were. Or I miss my guess."

Heero again closed his eyes and consulted his internal map, Duo did the same. After a quick consultation they headed back the way they'd come and chose a different hall. This one was empty but Duo didn't like the look of it so they waited while he took a pair of glasses out of his MOLLIE vest. He put them on and shook his head.

"We got all kinds of trouble. Hot spots and laser triggers. Damn. I'm so inventive I even scare myself. Well. . . here we go. Only way to make it is to run like hell." Duo started to take off but Wufei stopped him.

"Maxwell, if I remember right I still beat you by three-tenths of a second on the fifty." Duo laughed. "Yeah, I know. You're still prettier. Suck it up."

Duo gave Wufei the glasses at his request. He put them on and took off down the hall, at a dead run. He dodged and ducked as the triggered booby traps went off splattering red, blue and green paint and powders every where. He made it to the end of the hall and watched panting as the others sauntered over the colors, checking doors and trying not to get the mess on their boots. When they reached him they gave him a quick once over to make sure he wasn't 'wounded'. He wasn't.

Trowa checked the door at the end of the hall for traps and nodded the all clear. When they opened the door they were in for a nasty surprise. There were no stairs. Just a fifteen-footdrop to a concrete floor. And a big sign that said "loss of one team member for jumping."

"Fuck, fuck and double fuck." Heero eyed the drop wondering what to do. If it had been a real mission they would have jumped and taken the risk but not now the sign was clear.

Zechs moved up and eyed the drop. Then he did some math. "Look. I'm six . . . three or four. Trowa, how tall are you? . . ."

Trowa estimated the distance then said "I'm 5'11" thereabouts. It'll work."

Wufei made an impatient noise. But Quatre snarled 'incoming' so they turned their attention to fighting off the newest wave of attackers.

While the 'dead' men gathered themselves up and got out of the hall Zechs and Trowa worked the escape out and told everyone what they had to do. It didn't go down well with Quatre but everyone else was ready.

"I just hate climbing on people what if I kick you or something."

"Rather be kicked by you than shot by them. Come on love get it on the stick."

Zechs lay down on the floor near the edge of the drop with his head pointed that way. Heero and Trowa helped him scoot to the edge then slide over it head first back to the wall. He hooked his knees at the edge and dropped his arms down. Quatre lay over his shins to hold him in place.

Trowa climbed down Zechs first then Duo and Heero,Quatre was last then Zechs rolled back up using just the muscles in his abdomen, he reversed himself and hung from the edge by his hands. While he was turning around Trowa placed himself with his hands on the wall Heero clambered onto his shoulders and Duo got on Heero. Duo reached up and guided Zechs helping him to place his foot on top of Heero's head then he jumped down flipping neatly to the floor. Zechs barely placed his weight on Heero instead as soon as he had a firm footing on his shoulders he also flipped to the floor.

They formed a flying wedge with Zechs as anchor. With Heero on his left and Trowa on his right then Duo beside Heero and Quatre beside Trowa. Wufei took eyes behind having to run backwards as much a he did forward. His yelp of "incoming oh fuck" was enough to raise the hair on everyone's neck. They all turned to see that the 'incoming' was an old Aries backed up by twenty men.

Zechs heard Heero laugh, it was as bone chilling as Duo's. Trowa put a hand on Zechs's arm before he could get in the line of fire. 'Now you see why they get the big money. Just pick off the stragglers and any one they miss."

Wufei started firing, not the sweeping full auto fire of a pure firefight. He just started picking off the men on the right edge of the group, he ignored the Aries completely. It wasn't yet close enough to pose a danger. They were still out of range of the 60mm chain gun. And surely it wasn't still missilecapable, even if it was, no one would use missiles in this scenario. Too much collateraldamage.

Zechs watched to see what they were going to do. Heero started issuing commands and Zechs had to offer one objection. "But that puts us firingright at you. You . . ."

"No, we're already behind them. Just clear them out. I'm hit but it's not bad. Duo's fine. Just keep them off our backs we got to get that Aries before he gets close enough to bring that sixth into play.

The judge called a time but no one was listening to him so he gave up. That Aries had put everyone on the field into full combat mode. The officials and other spectators were going to have to sit back a enjoy the show.

Zechs took aim and blasted away, he didn't realize that they'd fallen into the same configuration as they'd used before except that Wufei stood at his side. They took their time and did it right. There wasn't a man left standing in less than two minutes. The Aries was getting closer and closer.

Wufei snarled. "They better get their asses in gear or we're done for. I'd hate to lose after all this. Damn. . . . ok."

They watched as Heero and Duo reeled out a long piece of thin strong cable that Duo produced from somewhere. The cable wasn't more that three-sixteenths of an inch thick but it was some sort of alloy. Duo quickly fastened a handle to the end in his grasp as Heero did the same. Then they parted at a dead run running away from each other at an angle. The Aries kept up its steady advance. Then Zechs saw what they were about to do and nearly had a fit.

"Oh my god. That won't work. It's not possible it. . . they'll. Fuck."

But it would work. Heero cut behind the Aries one way and Duo the other wrapping the cable around one foot of the mecha. They dropped the handles when the leg began its stride and hurried to pick them back up when the foot settled back on the ground. Then they quickly tied the cable to a quick anchor Duo pulled from a thigh pocket. He pushed the anchor into Heero's hands and waited as he pressed the orificeagainst the ground and triggered the charge. The cable was now firmly attached to the asphalt pavement. When the Aries started to take it's next step it pulled against the cable then staggered. The operator wisely surrendered rather than damage his mecha. More than it was already. It was in pretty bad shape and the man was lucky it had stayed together when they'd trapped it.

"Come on. We got to go. We're on the down hill side now, but we got to get to the HQ under our own power and Heero is 'wounded' so we got to go slow."

Heero had a green mark on the upper thigh of his pants where a 'bullet'had gone through the muscle. He was now walking wounded only he wasn't walking, the judges had declared him alive, in no danger of dying, but not mobile. Wufei considered. Trowa bit his lip. Duo and Quatre just waited. There was no way either of them could carry Heero.

Zechs was puzzled. "I thought that wound in his arm would have put him out."

Duo snorted. "Wound? Fuck, I shot him worse the first time we met and he's been shot lots worse and finished the mission. It's just that with that wound in his thigh, the leg is broken, and he's not walking on it." Heero just snorted. "Ok, ok, baby. I know you could if you really had to, but the judges decisions are final so now what? Make a stretcher? Out of what?"

Zechs just reached out and scooped Heero up, Heero snickered and helped Zechs get him into a fireman's carry. "I can manage him for . . . probably a mile before I wear out. How far is it?"

Duo just nodded shortly. "Thousand yards or so. Straight run. And lucky for you, all down hill. Move out."

They moved out indeed with Zechs in the middle of a box created by the four still ambulatory gundam pilots Wufei took point with Duo and Quatre on each side with Trowa eyes behind. There was one more surprise in the form of an APC, but Quatre produced a small rocket launcher, attached it to his rifle, and placed both rockets under the vehicle, enveloping it in a cloud of pink smoke. The judges announced it was destroyed.

And that ended that. They made the last of the run at a slow jog because that was the opposition's last hurrah and they knew it. They crossed the finish line just as Zechs was beginning to flag, Heero _was_ heavy.

There was no question in anyone's mind that the six gundam pilots had proven that cooperation was a good thing. They'd beaten a scenario that most of the first group had said out right was impossible. There was some shuffling and fussing. But it didn't take long for the judges to get everyone headed in what ever direction they were supposed to go.

Heero shucked out of his equipment and stood holding it in one hand. Duo smiled at them all and announced that they would leave everything at the desk for the Gunnie to clean and put away. They could also pick up towels and supplies for their much needed showers.

Duo sniffed himself and announced loudly. "Eeeuuuwww. Man we can go to the moon and beyond, invent stuff that scares me shitless, but we can't come up with a really good long lasting deodorant. Sucks."

Wufei shrugged as he stripped off his sweaty undershirt. "Yeah but if they did all the deodorantcompanies would go out of business. Here…." Wufei tossed his shirt at Trowa who, as nearest to the hamper, wound up ducking a barrageof dirty clothing. He stuffed it all into the hamper and followed admiring Quatre's ass.

They goofed around in the showers snapping each other with towels and in general making a great deal of noise and mess. When they finally got down to the job of getting clean Zechs brought up Heero's scars. Complaining that they were much worse than his, but no one thought to be indignanton his behalf. Quatre chose to answer after nods from the others.

"Heero's scars are from honorable combat. He got them knowing what he was getting into, . . er. . . more or less. But you. You were . . . injured by people who were supposed to have your best interests at heart. It's somehow . . . not the same."

Zechs ducked his head and turned off the shower he was under. He quietly picked up a towel, the others did the same waiting quietly for him to say what he wanted to so badly. "I don't believe anyone has ever had my best interests at heart. Not the people at the school, not the Kushrenada's, not . . . anyone really. So. Well never mind."

Wufei reached out and pulled Zechs's braid gently. "We care. Really care . . . we're war heroes. We have to stick together. No one understands gundam crazy except another gundam pilot . . . let me dry your back."

Wufei took the towel and driedZechs then turned to allow him to do the same. There was some laughing as Zechs, Duo and Wufei took care of their hair. Then they agreed that snacks and drinks were in order.

As they drank juice and ate some kind of dried fruit and nut mix that Wufei swore would help them recover faster they wandered in to the open vestibuleof the HQ. Quatre looked at his watch and sighed. He was tired and wanted to go home. Trowa smirked and handed Quatre a paper. Quatre grinned at him and handed it to Wufei.

"You're responsible, respectable and available. I'm turning custody of one Zechs Merquise over to you. I'm tired and have to get up early tomorrow if we want to have time for any fun. So make sure he's a good boy, ok?"

Wufei blinked at the paper, which did indeed turn custody of Zechs over to him until 'further notice.' He wondered idlywhat Quatre was up to but didn't worry too much about it. When he was told about it Zechs couldn't help teasing Wufei a bit asking him if he would be a good master. Wufei snorted at him and grinned in a rather evil way.

"Will you obey me without question?" No one expected the stricken look Zechs couldn't hide. "Zechs . . . I would never . . . I'm sorry. I seem to have opened a wound. Forgive me."

Zechs sighed, then dragged himself back together. "Treize used to say that to me when I was a trainee. Just . . . we were friends and comradesonce. Still feel it once in a while," he shook his head. "There, all better now."

They allowed, even encouraged the change of subject. Beginning an analysis of the mission that lasted through their drinks and a large bag of the snack food. They all agreed that it had turned out quite well and that Zechs was a true asset.

Duo snickered and announced, "With emphasis on the ass. Very nice. If I do say so."

Zechs groused. "What are you doing looking at my ass. I don't want Heero after it, in a very not nice way. I really don't want it kicked." The conversation wandered, as idle conversations are wont to do, from training to trucks to Duo's real yen for a drivers licenceand that special car.

"Excuse me but which one of you is the Gundam pilot." They all languidly raised hands. "Look, no offence, but this is important. That Aries is fubar to the max. The batteries are running down and the gyros are getting ready to go off line. We got major probs. So a little help would be greatly appreciated."

Duo hauled himself to his feet with Heero's help, he was stiffening up nicely, thank you. Zechs grunted as he got up, hauling Wufei to his feet at the same time.

Zechs nodded. 'We're all Gundam pilots, even me. Let's see exactly what you have."

They went to see exactly what the situation was. And it was bad. They couldn't get the verniersstarted and the batteries were low enough that they wouldn't move the suit. If the gyros stopped, the suit would topple over, and it was close enough to the building that it was going to fall on it. So they had to do something soon or the entire back wall of the HQ was going to be rubble.

"Umm . . . where did that thing come from anyway. It doesn't look in real good shape."

The messengersighed. "It belongs to Mick. He salvaged it from somewhere or other. He's not real stable. He thought it was his . . . it's not. . . but we don't argue with him much. In general he's harmless, that suit is the only thing that gets him off kilter."

Duo rubbed his forehead in frustration. Some of the guys they'd hired were just a little shell shocked, not quite right in the head. This was their safe place, the place they fit in, Duo knew some of them weren't really capable of relating to society in general. They could relate to others here in WEI Security so they were 'coddled', helped to hopefully find reality, sanity, or at least functionality.

"Hey, Mick, what's wrong. You got a real mess here." Duo sat down beside the man and looked at the suit. It was whining softly. Not a good thing.

"Oh, man. My baby is in real trouble. I got to get her going again. We'll need her some day, we will. You'll see. Suits are good for more than war, you know . . . you know that right? And when we need war suits again there won't be any. You know that right? But we'll have that one. And the Gundams … the Gundams were blown up you know. Right. I'm right aren't I?"

Mick didn't look at Duo once, he kept his eyes on the Aries rocking and muttering. Duo grunted as he stood up.

"Okeeeee, Hee-man. We got to get that suit going. Mick's been wrenching on that thing for months. It keeps him happy and we use it in training . . . damn it. I thought he was getting parts from junkyards. Those batteries . . . hey! You," Duo shouted at a man who was running towards the suit "Stay off that. The gyros are winding down, don't fool with it."

The man changed directions and headed for them instead. He came to a haltand saluted, Duo returned it and started questioning the man about the suit. When he found out that they hadn't been able to get proper batteriesand had replaced the military spec suit batterieswith car batteries he covered his eyes with one hand and groaned. Wufei snarled something in Chinese and Heero just glared. The glare scared the man in to babbling, which produced the additional information that they'd installed a quickie recharge plug in the heel. Which was what he'd been headed for when they'd called him over.

"How long will it take to recharge the batteries?"

"Not long, but the charge won't last. Those batteries are on their last legs. I'll get started. You'll have about . . . twenty steps, maybe a few more. Then we'll have to recharge again. We had to recharge three times to get the damn thing here. But Mick wanted to so bad that we just couldn't refuse him. . . .um . . . Major Maxwell?" Duo just looked at the man. "You gonna take his suit away?"

Duo shook his head. "No, I know how it is. I miss Scythe so bad sometimes I'm almost sick. No, he gets to keep it. But we got to get him some good batteries. Go charge it."

"Zhou ma. la ji" Wufei took a deep breath. "Damn it. That trash is dangerous. "

Heero could tell how much it meant to both Duo and Mick. Duo because it meanta lot to Mick and Mick was one of his men. So Heero started for the suit.

"Where do you think you're going?" Duo reached for Heero and missed as Heero eeled his shirt out of Duo grasp.

"To move that suit." Heero turned to glare at Duo.

"I'll move it."

"No, I will."

"He's my man." Duo put on his stubborn face.

"So? I'm better at handling a bad suit." Heero put on an equally stubborn face.

"No, you won't. I'm not risking you. The warden will have a fit."

"The warden isn't in on this. He wouldn't know anyway."

"I'll move it."

"No, I will. Damn it Duo, you're so stubborn."

"Me! Heero you . . . you're . . . hey!"

Zechs turned along with Heero. While they'd been arguing about who was going to move the suit Wufei had simply gone to the suit and rode the winch line up to the cockpit.

"Wan xiao!" Zechs didn't realize he'd spoken aloud until Heero and Duo both said 'huh?' in identical tones.

"Stupid boy. He'll get himself killed. I'll . . . damnit. That suit is a menace. It's one of the second run suits and not quite up to standards. It's unstable. Shit."

Zechs yanked at his braid in frustration. "He'll go down. That damn thing is . . . stop him!" Zechs sudden shout wasn't aimed at Wufei, Mick had finally realized that someone else was going to pilot his suit and was headed for it. Several men wrestled him to the ground and started comforting him, explaining what Wufei was doing.

Zechs looked around and told Duo that the area needed to be cleared. Duo just headed off to take care of getting the onlookers out of the way, Heero ran to check that the recharge truck was close. Wufei just started walking the suit back to its rack in a warehouse at the back of the hangers.

It took them two recharges to move the suit the quarter mile to it's rack and both times Duo swore they were going to set the thing on fire the sockets got so hot. Zechs bit his lip and worried. Heero grimly threatened to tie Wufei up and never let him go.

"It's not worth it. That old thing is . . . junk. I wish. Damn. . . Duo . . ." But Duo was in as bad a shape as Heero was. Zechs realized that they were both missing their Gundams. Somehow he'd never missed Epyon or Tallgeese at all.

"It'll be ok. But when that young man gets out of that disaster on legs I'm not going to be responsible for what I'll do. I swear if he's hurt at all I'll blow that pile of junk to the moon."

Wufei finally wrestled the suit into its rack and slid down the cable. Duo grabbed for Wufei, Heero grabbed Duo and Zechs got hold of Wufei. Heero and Duo wound up hugging each other while Zechs shook Wufei like a rag doll

"Dammit. Little dragon, you've got the sense of a pea. You could have been badly hurt. You could have . . . if that suit had fallen over . . ."

Wufei tried to interrupt. "I was strapped in . . ."

Zechs cut him off. "Doesn't matter, the whole chair module would have broken lose and smashed you into the cockpit walls. Dammit. Just . . . " Zechs suddenly realized what he was doing and nearly dropped Wufei he was so startled. 'Oh hell. Chang, I'm sorry. I . . . well, . . . fuck."

Heero and Duo hugged each other nearly hysterical and trying hard not to laugh themselves silly. Wufei managed to retrieve his dignity, straighten his clothes and not smack Zechs.

"I'll thank you not to manhandle me. No matter how upset you are . . . I'm fine, just a little burnt. I . . ." Wufei found himself surrounded. When he said he was burnt Heero grabbed one hand and Duo grabbed the other. Zechs just got out of the way.

"Where? Dammit. 'Fei how'd you burn your hands?"

Wufei tried to pull his hands away. "The controls got hot. Mick was wearing gloves. I didn't have any. It was more important to get the suit racked before the gyros failed. I'm not badly . . . oww. Maxwell. That hurt. Don't . . . will you stop fussing?"

Heero now had both of Wufei's wrists in his hands. Duo was yelling for a medic and Zechs was simply wondering if spanking Wufei would get him solitary. Wufei was struggling with Heero a little but Zechs snarled him into submission.

"Stay still brat. Burns get infected easily. Damn. Just a. . . not badly burned, huh? You're starting to blister and those are electrical burns Wan Xiao. Be still, I say." Zechs took the burn spray from the medic without even realizing it. The medic started to object, but Duo frowned at him and shook his head.

Zechs sprayed the stuff on Wufei's hands and waited for it to start to skin. Heero released Wufei, as Wufei realized how much it was hurting because it stopped. Zechs sprayed again.

Wufei hissed softly. "Oww oww oww oww, fuck. It hurts. Dammit."

"Yes it hurts. Hold still and let the neo-skin dry." Zechs replaced Heero's hands with his own and held Wufei by the wrists until he stilled. "You're not doing anything until tomorrow. That stuff will seal the burns but . . ."

Wufei interruptedwith some irritation. "And who's going to take care of me. Heero makes a lousy nurse and Duo drives me crazy. Quatre will cry over me and Trowa will have to comfort him."

"I'll take care of you. Least I can do. Heero . . ." But Heero had already climbed into the nearby car and was holding the door open. "Smart. A fait accompli. Come on." Zechs helped Wufei into the car, making sure he didn't try to use his hands.

Wufei endured the fussing until they got to the house, then he made one determined effort to get to his room before Quatre descendedon him in a flurry of recriminations. Zechs didn't let him get away with his attempt, instead he firmly gripped him by the shoulders and forced him to endure Quatre fussing and respraying his hands. When he finally got to his rooms, Zechs followed him in, even though Wufei attempted to shut the door in his face.

"Zechs. I'd appreciate a little privacy."

"Not going to happen. I'm staying right here." Wufei knew that any attempt to remove him was fruitless. Even without burned hands Wufei was only about half the size of Zechs, it wasn't going to happen.

"Well, I need some privacy, go. . . come back in ten minutes."

Zechs gave Wufei a look. "What are you up to? Chang, you might as well tell me. I'm not leaving, so you'll just have to give up on what ever you're planning.

Wufei flushed furiously and Zechs wondered what he was up to. "I have to . . ." Wufei mumbled off.

"What . . . I couldn't hear you. Mumbling isn't going to get me in or out any time soon. You might as well just sound off and get it over with." Zechs eyed Wufei's red face with some amusement. "We're both grown men. Get over yourself."

Wufei gave Zechs a burning look. "Alright. I. Have. To. Piss. Now get out."

Zechs just snickered. 'And how are you going to manage with those hands?"

Wufei started to clench his hands into fists and realized that he had a very real problem. The spray had stiffened into a protective glove. He couldn't bend his fingers, not to mention that it was painful as well. He let out a soft moan.

Zechs laughed. "Come on. I'll hold it for you."

Authors notes.

Quick anchors do exist. Not big enough to stop a Gundam in it's tracks. In fact they are used to anchor buildings like sheds and walls in concrete floored buildings and use .22 blanks to shoot the anchor into the surface.

For those of you who don't play paint ball, the judges are 'invisible', everywhere, and their decision is final. They give their instructions and decisions over the same tactical radios the combatants use to communicate with each other.

For more info on MOLLIE vest go here: http/usmilitary. replaced my old ALICE with a new MOLLIE just because I could. They are handier than backpacks, under certain circumstances, because you don't have to dump the pack to find things.

Weissangel24, Here it is.;

Kimpisces, Wow! Thank you for that review. Um - Wufei and Zechs . . . wait and see. :-);

Violetfocus, I read each and every one. Thank you very much. If you want a more personal reply go to my bio and find my email addie. It's up to date.

LightningFire. I love tea and the whistle so you get something a little different from me. I'm glad you liked it.

Dibs. Real people are like that so are my characters.

Thanks also to: Bombayoni, Lady Katasha, Lost-Rememberance, Silvermane1 and Kidishcaresh.


	17. Campfires Redux

The Price They Paid: Campfires Redux 17

Betaed by Skippyscatt

000

Zechs couldn't decide whether he wanted to swat Wufei or kiss him. He decided against kissing him as he figured that would get him shot. Or sent back. But the boy was aggravating to say the least he didn't want help although he needed it.

Instead he fussed at every little thing. They were supposed to go camping but with burned hands Wufei was afraid he'd spoil everyone else's fun so he was in a bad mood and not getting any better as the morning went on.

First, he'd had to have help to relieve himself, now Zechs was washing him, which he also objected to.

"Will you please hold still?" Zechs soaped up the wash cloth and started to wash Wufei's face.

He scrunched it up and muttered, "I'll wait until I can do it myself. You don't need to do that."

Zechs swatted Wufei on the shoulder. "You really want to go another day dirty. Don't think so. You took care of me now I'm returning the favor wether you like it or not. Now hold still or I'll sit on you."

Wufei gave Zechs a fulminating look but subsided and allowed him to wash whatever needed it. Only muttering, "I'd like to sit on something." Zechs gave him a totally and carefully blank look. Wufei turned scarlet and quit complaining.

After Zechs finished washing Wufei and helping him dress in simple jeans and a red t-shirt he took a careful look at his hands.

"I think you could go camping if you want to. All you have to do is leave the pseudo skin on for the rest of the morning. Then wear a pair of protective gloves. Biking mitts should do the trick. Like the one's Maxwell wears sometimes."

Wufei sighed then nodded. "I'll ask him for a pair at breakfast . . . um . . . excuse my bad temper. Please. I'm not usually rude. I apologize."

Zechs just nodded and motioned for Wufei to go ahead of him. They headed down to breakfast with Wufei oblivious to the reason Zechs allowed him to go first. Zechs just enjoyed the view.

Finally, here they were, sitting down to breakfast. Breakfast at a Winner home was interesting to say the least. Especially with the Gundam pilots in residence.

"Hey, don't Bogart that bacon. I want some." Duo reached over and snatched the plate from Heero, who had dumped half the said bacon onto his plate.

"Well, there's plenty more where that came from. I'm hungry. The food at that place is way too chi-chi for me. Croissants and cocoa. Pass the eggs."

Zechs snorted.

"What?"

"You can order anything you want, you know."

Heero rolled his eyes in disgust. "Yeah, and they not so politely tell me that it's not good for me. Jesus, I'm seventeen. I got a heart like a race horse and, due to J fucking with every millimeter of me, I won't get clogged arteries. Pass the rolls."

Zechs turned to Wufei who was attempting to pick up a fork and failing.

"I'm not sure exactly what you're saying, my Mandarin is bad. Let me help you." Zechs reached over and picked up Wufei's fork. "And don't give me that stubborn look. How are you going to eat if you can't even bend your fingers? Open your mouth, stubborn one."

Wufei started to say something but Zechs just poked the fork between his open lips before he could do more than start. No one at the table said anything, not even Duo. They all knew when to tease and when to let things be. This was definitely time to let things be.

Wufei chewed vigorously and started to say something, then changed his mind and just opened his mouth for the next forkfull of eggs. Zechs fed him his breakfast between his own bites of food. He even made sure to allow him time to talk with the others.

Quatre watched with some amusement as Duo nearly hung off Heero. He was happy because his friends were happy. Everyone was eating and drinking, Trowa was there and he had taken care of all his business so he could take the weekend off.

"Excuse me. Everyone. Attention." The laughing and talking continued. Quatre's soft voiced request was unheard. "HEY! SHUT UP!" Everyone just turned in his direction. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying. I got permission for Zechs and Heero to extend their furlough another day. So we can go camping. Isn't that great?" Duo moaned. "Duo, you know you wanted Heero to see where we were. But we're not going to have time to hike in. So. . . . I've made arrangements to chopper in. We'll make a controlled drop over the camp site and hike out."

Heero brightened, one of the things he missed most was being able to hike and camp. Colony born though he was, he still loved nature. Duo groaned, more camping. Everyone else just braced themselves for Duo's complaining.

Zechs had stiffened when camping was mentioned but he saw that everyone else wanted to go so he didn't express his own opinion of camping, which was very like Duo's. But Wufei sighed with happiness.

"I'd like that. My hands will be good enough by noon and I know we can't get to the drop zone any sooner than that. Duo, will you loan me a pair of your biking gloves?"

Duo sighed dramatically. "Sure. Haul my butt out to the back of beyond _and _borrow gloves too." but he smiled in a way that let Wufei know that he was welcome to the gloves or anything else he needed. "I'll go get them now. See ya at the car in a few."

Duo headed up the stairs with Heero just behind him. When he got into his room Heero trapped him against the door and spent a few moments kissing him. He kissed back with happy abandon.

"We can't." Duo pushed Heero away. "We broke the bed all night. Come on, I got to get those gloves for Chang and then we get to go camping . . . oh, joy. Be still my heart." Duo made distasteful face. "I hate camping. Really, really. Ugh."

Heero sighed. He knew Duo didn't like it. But he never knew why. "Maybe you'll learn to like it if you try it again."

"Gah. I'll tell you all about the Rockies sometime. A- ha!" Duo pounced on his extra pair of gloves holding them up in triumph. He tucked them into a pocket of his BDU's and, dragging Heero behind him, headed for the waiting car.

The car trip was accomplished with a minimum of fuss. The driver only had to pull over once, and that was to let them all out when a smoke bomb in Duo's vest went off because Trowa triggered it wrestling with him. It didn't take long for it to clear with all the doors open, but the driver insisted on taking Duo's vest until they reached their destination. He was the only one who wasn't laughing. Even Zechs had to laugh, after all how many times could you say you'd been driven out of a limo by a pink smokebomb.

When they reached the airport Zechs realized that the chopper belonged to Quatre, not WEI, Quatre himself. And he was going to pilot it until the drop.

"Are you sure this is ok?" Zechs touched Trowa on the shoulder.

Trowa turned slightly showing Zechs one amused green eye. "Yes. It's ok. He's passed the aviation test. We all did. We're certified to pilot anything. Quatre paid a fortune to get us licences. But we're all legal. The age restrictions are very loose. Mostly you have to be tall enough to reach the controls."

Zechs blinked for a moment then remembered his own training. He'd always thought he had been slipped under the radar somehow. Now he realized that all he'd had to do was be tall. He snickered softly at his own innocence. Trowa smiled back taking his amusement at himself as amusement at the system.

"We get away with quite a lot. They aren't keeping much of an eye on us. We're inconvenient. We keep a low profile, so out of sight, out of mind. Come on. Quatre is getting impatient."

They boarded the plane and settled into seats for the flight to the drop zone. It didn't take long to arrive. During the flight Trowa carefully pealed the pseudo skin off Wufei's hands and checked them over. They were half way healed but still very tender. Trowa sprayed them with a lighter coat of the spray on skin.

"Well, I don't want to say that they are healed 'cause they aren't. If it was combat, I'd say suck it up. But this is vacation. So . . . use the gloves and be really careful. That healing skin will peal like a peach at the slightest stress."

Zechs looked at Wufei then made a decision. He looked around and found a buddy harness, used when inexperienced or wounded people had to make a drop. "I'll buddy you." Wufei opened his mouth with a scowl. "And don't argue with me. I'm bigger than you are. And if you want to do this, it's this or drop with Heero."

Wufei made a face then gave Heero a pleading look. Heero just raised an eyebrow and poked Duo. Duo shook his head firmly. "Nope. Not my boyfriend. Wuffers, I love you like a brother but not that much. Go with Sexy."

Zechs sighed and started putting on the harness. Much to his surprise Wufei didn't protest anymore. He didn't see the stern look that Quatre gave Wufei. Wufei stuck out his lower lip a little, but kept his peace. He'd been on the wrong end of Quatre's sharp tongue before and wasn't about to spoil whatever plans the wiley young CEO had in mind.

000

The drop was accomplished with a minimum of fuss. Wufei donned the gloves and buddy harness and allowed Zechs to carry him down. Heero, Duo, Quatre, and Trowa carried the equipment and supplies. The slide down the drop cable was easy, the pilot who took Quatre's place was experienced and well aware that this was not just some rich kid with a yen for adventure.

Quatre smiled happily. He loved camping out and wasn't about to let Duo's grumpiness spoil his fun. He knew Duo didn't like camping, something about the Rocky Mountains and getting stuck there. But surely, if he saw that this was going to be fun, he'd cheer up. Not like last time when he'd been missing Heero so much and they'd gotten burned out. This time would be better and they would get Duo over his dislike of camping out.

As they set up camp, Zechs felt privileged to see the Gundam pilots in full 'cooperation' mode. They moved around the camp pitching tents, setting up the fire pit, and securing supplies, with very few words exchanged. They all seemed to know what was needed, all he did was gather wood and stay out of the way.

Duo managed to conceal most of his unhappiness until they got the camp set up. After they were done working, they all gathered at the fire pit to warm themselves by the fire that Zechs had set. He'd also put on a pot of water and it was hot and ready to make tea.

They settled down to drink the tea and Quatre pinned Duo with a sharp look and demanded 'the story' on why he hated camping so much.

– o 0 o – flashback – o 0 o –

Duo crouched in the brush and thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't using Deathscythe, the gundam would have given him away instantly. Oz was on his tail like fur as it was. He scooted around to try to find a way out of the dead end that had enough cover for him.

There was one but it was a quick scamper over open ground before he could get to the next cover. He waited until the searchlight turned away and scampered. Right into a clump of something thorny. Everything in this area had stickers or thorns or sticky sap.

He bit his lip to stifle his moan of pain as a long thorn stabbed right through the palm of his left hand. Fuck, I hate nature.

He scrambled, crawled and hid for over six hours, finally finding a cave to hole up in. A cold, damp cave.

He fell asleep, weary and cold to the bone. He woke up with a bed mate that wasn't Heero.

His quick reflexes kept him from being bitten, but not from the splash of venom from a broken fang. It burned and he used some of his precious drinking water to wash it off. Hoping against hope that it didn't do anything to the open wound it got into.

He ate the snake for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Raw.

"God I hate snake, it does NOT taste like chicken. More like fish. I wish I had some soy sauce, or B-B-Que sauce. Even some salt would be good."

He dragged his weary body out of the cave and headed in the general direction of Aurora, where he had a contact. But he knew it was going to be several miserable days before he got there. It was almost on the other side of the state from where he was.

He hiked all night and holed up during the day. His hand hurt more and more and the scrape on his neck was throbbing as well. He was thirsty, hungry, cold and tired when he found the small cabin. It looked abandoned but he was careful anyway. He crawled to a window and peeked in. No one was there and it was dusty. The table, counter and the one chair he could see were all covered with a thin layer of dust. He decided it must be a hunting hut, only used during the hunting season and deserted the rest of the year.

The lock on the door was ridiculously easy to pick.

There was a small battery operated radio, which he immediately switched on. While he listened to local news and weather he rummaged the cabinets finding some canned soup and some dried fruit. A few crackers and he had a meal. Then he stumbled onto a treasure trove. A decent backpack and a full case of survival rations. Fifth generation MRE's neatly labeled "MRE-G5" and the type of meal it was. He stuffed them into the backpack as well as the sleeping bag he found draped over the dusty couch. Further exploration revealed a sweater two sizes too big and several pairs of socks. He shoved them all into the backpack and dumped it by the door.

He settled down for another bowl of soup even though he was nearly full. His early life had proven to him that food should be eaten before someone stronger took it away. In this case he was eating it all now so that; one, it wouldn't spoil due to lack of refrigeration and two, one can of soup was barely adequate to a teen age boy. He'd be hungry again soon.

He crawled into the bed and fell asleep, sleeping through the day and into the night. He decided to stay another day. The news reports hadn't been very reassuring. Lady Une herself was in charge of the search and she was releasing hourly reports on how viscous and insane he was. Bitch. I'm no where near as nuts as you are. Psycho broad. He _did_ realize that his habit of talking to himself was _not_ a sign of sanity.

As he woke up, he realized that his entire face and one side of his neck itched horribly. He looked in the mirror and groaned, he now had some sort of systematic poisoning. He felt ill enough as it was. His hand was infected, the scrape where the venom had dripped was swollen and oozing serum. Now he itched. I hate the Rockys. I hate camping, hiking and everything attached to it. I'm gonna go back to space and never set foot on dirt again. Pleaseplease.

Duo left the last of his money in a tin on the table with a note thanking the owner for putting him up and apologizing for taking his stuff without permission.

He hiked another two days as he hiked his pack lightened. He was drinking the water at a faster rate than he liked but his fever, while low-grade, wasn't breaking. The infection in his hand was getting worst and the scrape on his neck was now an open oozing wound. And he still itched incessantly. He'd dug at his face and neck until the skin was raw and bloody.

Duo finally got to the house of his contact. It was old, small and out in the middle of nowhere. In fact, the only way to get to it was over a gravel road. He scratched at the back door and finally gave up. If his contact wasn't there, or was compromised, he was finished. He just managed to wait for the door to open before he collapsed.

The waiting couple were shocked at his condition. He was covered in poison ivy and oak, his hand was badly infected, his boots in shreds which had blistered his feet. He had a bad cold and the venom which had entered his system through the scrape had weakened his immune system. It took him three weeks to get well enough to return to Deathscythe and the war.

– o 0 o – end flashback – o 0 o –

So you see. I hate the wilderness with a passion. My idea of a real good time is a nice hotel room and a casino nearby. Swimming and video games, movies and night clubs. Gah. And if I never see another snake, it'll be too soon."

Quatre looked stricken. "Oh. Duo if I'd know it was that bad, I'd never have brought you camping in the first place." He leaned against Trowa and sighed, Trowa just hugged him.

Duo grinned. "It's ok man. It's not like you dragged me or anything, just . . . next time, I get to pick. Ok?"

Heero, who had been holding Duo through the entire narration, just held him closer and thanked whatever power there was that Duo had managed to survive.

Zechs blinked. "You were the one she was searching for? Well, you'll be glad to know that she was in a real temper by the time she got done with that particular search. Treize had a hell of a time calming her down. She completely destroyed her quarters . . . smashed everything. Even the bed."

Wufei snorted. "Stupid onna. She shouldn't have even tried. Messing with Shinigami isn't wise. I found that out the hard way."

"Do tell."

Duo snickered.

Wufei made a disgusted face. "Not a chance"

Zechs let it drop for the time being. But he resolved to find out about it.

"Let me take a good look at your hands before it gets too dark to see."

Wufei scooted over so that Zechs could pull the gloves off and examine his hands. They were looking good, the skin had healed over quite a bit. The gloves had protected the tender new skin and a quick spray of pseudo skin would make the gloves unnecessary.

Zechs put the spray away in the med. kit and turned to see Duo standing, or rather leaning against a tree watching him. He pulled his sunglasses down to the end of his nose, leaving Zechs with a clear look at his eyes.

"I got a few words to say to you. I know you fancy Chang. That's good. He needs someone, and I think you're the one. But you hurt him in anyway . . . and I guarantee you won't like the results. And Heero's mine, just so you know. So . . ." Duo pushed his glasses up his nose and clapped his hands. "What's for supper? I'm starved, all this fresh air and whatnot."

Zechs decided that he didn't even want to try to explain that he would never hurt Chang. Pissing off Duo wasn't a good thing, the look in those beautiful eyes had promised pain beyond belief. He shivered.

000

The later part of the after noon was spent in random silliness; like playing hacky sack until Duo out shone them all with a double heel-toe-heel, head, behind-the-back combination that made all the rest of them just throw up their hands and drop laughing to the ground. Frisbee was next and Zechs, being at least five inches taller that the next tallest pilot, swept the field, not missing a single catch.

Fishing was a bust, as the only ones interested were Quatre and Wufei. The rest made so much noise making fun of them that they scared any fish into the next county.

Finally it was dark enough that they had to quit. They gathered around the fire for supper and more stories. But it had been a long day and they were all tired. Zechs took one last look at Wufei's hands, pronounced them healed, and yawned.

"Well, I'm tired. Who's sleeping with who." Then he blinked, blushed and started laughing. "Never mind. I know, Quatre, Trowa; and Duo, Heero. But that leaves us one tent short. Unless I'm in with Wufei."

Duo snickered. "Yup. We buddy up. Don't think any of us have slept alone, except Heero, since the war started. Wuffers, he's been sleeping with me. Helps keep the dreams away."

Wufei just sighed. "Duo. . . never mind."

Zechs shook his head and crawled into the tent. After they got settled he hesitantly asked Wufei, "Do you think if I talked to him he'd quit mangling your name?"

"No. . . . that wasn't what I was getting ready to say. I gave up on him after only a few weeks. It's a sign of affection. He calls me Wuffers, Quatre is Q-ball, Heero is Hee-man and Trowa, Mr. T. They're all obscure references to ancient television programs or games. It grows on you after a while. I'm afraid he'll start calling you Sexy. You'll either get used to it or ignore him until he gets even more outrageous, then you long for the time he called you Sexy. Unless you have a name you'd rather have him call you. Then you need to get the rest of us calling you that before something more obnoxious sticks."

Wufei yawned mumbled something vaguely resembling 'Good night' and curled up in his sleeping bag.

Zechs wondered for a moment if he'd get punched if he cuddled, decided he would and went to sleep himself.

Wufei woke to a soft moan. "Duo? Duo. It's . . . Zechs. . . ." Wufei had already reached for his tent mate before he remembered that it wasn't Duo. He carefully crouched by Zechs' feet. He patted him on the calf and getting no reaction but another soft sound of distress he crawled up to his torso and patted him on the shoulder. Zechs reacted by rolling onto his side facing Wufei. So Wufei cuddled up to his chest and started talking softly and rubbing his back in gentle sweeping circles.

"It's ok. I'm here. Wake up. No one is going to hurt you. I won't let them. Wake up now. Zechs . . . wake up. . . . It's me . . . Chang Wufei."

Zechs started and opened bleary ice blue eyes. "Uuuummm.. . . sorry. . . . wha' . . . . I . . . " He knuckled his eyes and then rubbed his face. "I'm awake. I . . . sorry. . . I don't have dreams very often. Good thing you caught me when you did. I'm a screamer. I'd have awakened the whole camp."

A cheerful voice from outside the tent announced. "Too late. We're up. You want coffee or tea. Dawn's only about an hour away, so we might as well all just get up."

"Dammit! I'm sorry, guys." Zechs groaned and flopped back in his sleeping bag. He pulled the bag over his face and sighed.

Wufei pulled it off and tossed his clothes onto his face. "Up. You don't want Maxwell coming in to see if he can fix things. It usually involves cold water. Or feet. Come on."

When he got out of the sleeping bag and into his clothes, he opened the zip fly and looked around. The sky was grey, but beginning to show pink in the east, just barely. All the others were gathered around the fire waiting for the kettle to boil. Duo with a hopeful look, the others with various rather grumpy expressions. Except for Heero, who was wearing his usual morning expression. Blank.

Zechs apologized again for waking up everyone.

"Hey! No prob. You should hear me. I scream the roof off and swear like a sailor. Q-ball just swears and you'd better not get too close. Throw stuff. Mr T, he . . . .mmmmrrrfff."

Trowa firmly put his hand over Duo's mouth. A thing that Zechs was going to have words with them about.

"Duo, he's not interested in the quality and quantity of our nightmares at this time. Although I will warn you that approaching any of us carelessly will get you seriously hurt. Be especially careful of Duo and Wufei. They have knives. Heero will just break your jaw."

Zechs sighed and took the cup of tea he was offered like the lifeline it was. He sipped the overly sweet beverage without complaint and found that it helped a great deal. Just the fact that he hadn't had to make it himself was a comfort.

They started policing camp and Quatre carefully approached Zechs. Gently he asked, "Would you like to talk about it? If you don't, I certainly understand but sometimes it helps. You know?"

Zechs sighed "I've been having the same dream for years. I'm running . . . you know the rest. I just wonder sometimes what would happen if I ever get caught."

Quatre patted him on the shoulder. "I don't know. I'm always too scared to turn around . . . Would you like me to help you with your hair. It's . . . a little messy."

A laughing voice called from across the clearing. "You mean . . . It looks like an owl's nest. I'll come fix it in a minute. As soon as I'm done with Duo's."

Duo snickered. "Hey. After we get off probation maybe you could set yourself up as a hair dresser. Specializing in long hair. Call yourself Mes sure 'Eeero." Duo's fake, and very bad, French accent made everyone groan.

Heero bopped him on the head and then stood up. He stuck one arm out, hand dangling limply, and pranced a few steps. "Oui. 'ow you zay. Le Coupe du grace. Ze . . . mal du tete."

Trowa groaned and then started laughing. Everyone laughed so hard they had tears in their eyes. Zechs laughed so hard he got hiccoughs and had to hold his breath. Heero and Duo leaned on each other and Quatre kept mumbling 'Coupe du grace. Ooh dear.'

When they finally managed to quite giggling, Heero walked over, still wiping his eyes, and sat down behind Zechs.

"Dammit. Duo toss me the brush, will you?"

Duo just pegged it in the general direction of Zechs and Heero. Heero picked the missile out of the air before it could hit him in the face.

Heero deftly brushed out the tangles and divided the silken strands into three parts. He braided quickly and snapped a band around the end. Zechs felt a gentle tug and turned to see Duo stroking the end of his braid.

"Nice. I always wanted to see what it felt like. Didn't really notice before. Way too embarrassed. Want to feel mine." Duo offered the end of his braid, which Zechs took gravely.

He carded his fingers through the end carefully. "Hhumm. Soft. What kind of conditioner do you use? I don't like what I'm using right now. Leaves some residue. Sticky."

"Some stuff one of Q's people makes for me. Maybe he'll get her to make something for you. I had to give her a hair that had to be pulled out. Ouch. But it's really good stuff. Come on. We're going up to the place where we watched stars last time. We should be able to see where the fire was. It hasn't been that long."

They shouldered packs and set out.

The climb wasn't that hard and it didn't take them long to get there. They even made it in time to see the last of the sunrise. As they waited for it to be light enough to see into the valley, Heero told them more about his run from the fire.

He finished with a mock pout and a grumbled. "And you just flew away from it. Sucks."

Quatre looked stricken. "If we'd known where you were, we'd have come for you."

Heero put his arm around Quatre's shoulders. "I know that. Don't be silly. Here, dig out that map and let's see where we were in relation to each other."

So they dug out the map and Zechs was not surprised to find that they all remembered the coordinates they'd been at when the fire started.

"Hey, Heero. Give me those numbers again, just to make sure." Heero rattled them off again. "Well. We were here." Duo pointed. "They picked us up right there." Duo shifted his finger by a few millimeters. "But that means that you were. . . " Duo pointed again, this time down the valley. "right there."

They could just see the campground. The fire hadn't killed the trees, just stripped them of all their leaves. So they got a really good view.

"Fuck. We weren't more than a . . . " Duo measured on the map. "mile apart. Damn."

"Did you hear the wolves?"

Duo blinked and Trowa sniggered. "What wolves?"

"I heard wolves howling from this direction. I howled back. I . . . they . . . made me feel sad."

Duo hugged Heero from one side and Quatre hugged him from the other. Wufei smiled at Heero. "That wasn't wolves. That was us. We heard you and thought you were a wolf replying to us."

Trowa suddenly threw back his head and howled. Quatre joined in a slightly higher range. Duo matched Quatre. Then Wufei howled in a surprisingly deep range, with Heero matching him. Zechs joined in the mournful sound on a basso profundo note that completed the chord. They howled until they ran out of breath, then just stilled and sat together in companionable silence for a long moment.

They were brought out of the peaceful silence by the startling winking of sunlight off some reflective surface. They all instinctively scrambled for cover. It was the sun off a lense.

"What the fuck? Who . . . careful." Zechs automatically pushed Wufei down when he tried to raise his head for a look. "Give me a second, then stick your head up. I'll . . . " Zechs gave up as everyone was looking at Quatre for orders.

"Do what Zechs said. Wait a moment then someone. . . you, Duo . . stick your head up, then Zechs will too. We'll compare notes, then do it again until we're sure we've got it. Then we'll decide what to do."

So Duo stuck his head up and then Zechs did. After they compared notes, Quatre and Trowa did the same.

"Well, I don't think it's anything to be worried about. If I'm right, it's just someone trying to figure out where the howling is coming from. There haven't been wolves around here in years." Quatre just stood up and took out his binoculars, he scanned the area where the flashes had come from.

All he saw was a group of people looking back at him with their own scopes and binoculars. He waved, they waved back. Zechs watched in amusement as the people below tried to signal them. One man solemnly tried the old-fashioned flag code. Duo nearly collapsed in laughter.

"Damn. That guy can't even spell. Or else he's got some of the letters confused. What the hell is he trying to say. Something. W. . . o . . . l . . .I guess he's got v and b confused. And d. . . a. . . n . . . .oh hey, there's a ranger."

The ranger stopped the man from confusing things any farther. He took out a pair of hand flags and tried again. This time Duo nodded.

"Yeah. Did. . . you. . . hear. . . wolves. Query. Shall I answer him or just wave my hands around like we don't know what's going on?"

Quatre thought for a second. "We didn't do anything wrong. Answer him."

Duo took the bandana Heero handed him and the large white linen square from Zechs. He stood up and started signaling quickly spelling out the message.

"It was us. We were just having some fun. Sorry to scare anyone. End message."

The ranger signaled back. "Ok. Didn't think wolves could be here. No harm. End message."

They each made the signs for 'end of communication' and the ranger turned to the group to explain. Duo turned to the others with a grin, then his face fell.

"I can't believe we were that close to each other. So close. We could have seen each other. I. . . well. Water . . . dam. Come on. If we're going to hike out, we better get on the stick."

They shouldered packs and started for the trail head, which was about eight miles away. The trails were really good so they took it easy, for them. Zechs was surprised that they could keep up with his long legs. But even Duo was keeping up a steady and fast pace. In fact, Duo was ahead of all the rest, as if he couldn't wait to get out of the woods.

Zechs finally caught up with him and started to say something when he realized that Duo was muttering to himself. "Don't worry. There's nothing here that'll jump out at you. No creepy-crawlies. It's ok."

He fell back to speak to Heero. "You need to catch up with Duo and stay near him. He really doesn't want to be here. He'll run himself into the ground. He's got the whim-whams. Bad."

Heero just nodded and caught up to Duo. He took Duo's hand and held him back. Duo flashed him a sheepish grin and slowed down to something less than a dead run. He really hated hiking and camping. More than he wanted anyone to know.

Quatre sighed, he gave up on the dream of companionable camping trips without a qualm. He'd be satisfied with trips with Trowa. Then he brightened, camping, with Trowa, alone.

Wufei walked by Zechs and spent some of their time pointing out plants that he knew were medicinal; or good for tea, or perfume. Zechs smiled, the Chinese boy was so intense and serious.

"Do you ever really let go?"

Wufei turned from the contemplation of Irish moss to smile at Zechs. "You know I do. You've seen me. It's just that I was trained from an early age to be a credit to my clan. Very serious business. Being a credit. But. . . my secret amusement . . . if you really want to know?"

"Please enlighten me."

"Arguing with Duo. He's got quite a sharp wit. And he's not nearly as silly as he seems. He just refuses to take things as seriously as he should. I think sometimes, that his early life was so harsh that he can't quite grasp how seriously we take things. Politics really just make him laugh. But . . . threaten his friends and you've got a whole other man on your hands."

"Hey guys. What's the frowning for? It's a nice day, we're on our way back to civilization, no one's hungry, thirsty or shot. So lighten up. Come on."

Duo grabbed Wufei by the hand and hauled him along the trail for a few steps. Then went back for Zechs. Zechs just grinned.

"Ok, you don't like hiking. Here you go." Zechs swept Duo up and tossed him over his shoulder pack and all, right on top of his own pack. He took off at a dead run for several yards with Duo whooping and howling. The other pilots kept up until Duo managed to wriggle off Zechs' shoulder. He hit the ground running and turned back to make faces at them and egg them to even greater speed.

They ran until they were all stitching, then they just stopped where they were and flopped down to lay panting and gasping by the side of the trail. Quatre opened his pack and dug out a water bottle.

"Everyone. Drink. We've all got trail mix. Have some. I get the feeling that we aren't going to have a good lunch like I planned. Duo wants to get out of the woods and, after his story, I think we should humor him. We've imposed on his good nature long enough. Duo, I'm really sorry. If you'd have told us sooner, I wouldn't have been trying to cure you of your dislike. I think you have a really good reason to hate hiking and camping. I wouldn't like it either."

"Yeah, and that bitch Une is a real bulldog. She's supposed to be on medication, but what if she forgets to take it or something. Anyway. She hunted me through about four counties. I'm just glad she didn't get her hands on me but the once."

Zechs sighed. He frankly liked Une. But he realized that the pilots, especially Duo, had reason not to. He just kept his mouth shut.

The result of the clowning around was that, after they checked on the map, they realized that they were only about two miles from the pickup point. Which was a small mom and pop quick stop on the highway. It was a meeting place for a lot of hiking groups. Easy access to the park and the highway and easy to find.

Duo poked around in his pack. "Here. Heero, I've only got a few things in here. Just this. And my sleeping bag. Why don't you give me that tent and your pack? Stuff this in your fanny and we can consolidate two . . . or even three, packs into one." He rummaged some more and jammed things in tighter. Quatre was doing the same thing with his pack and Trowa's and Wufei's. Zechs checked in his pack and realized that he really wasn't carrying much of anything either.

After a little jamming and rearranging they managed to stuff everything into two packs and their fanny packs. That meant that two of them would be carrying a regular load and the others would be relatively unencumbered. Zechs managed to make sure that he was carrying the larger of the loads. He took two of the tents and most of the pegs and four of the sleeping bags. The other pack got the two remaining sleeping bags and the other tent.

Trowa smiled and didn't say anything, he just made sure he took the smaller pack. That left Duo and Heero packless and fancy free. He hoped they would take advantage of it. They did.

000

Duo hauled Heero into the brush.

"Damn Heero, make sure there's no poison ivy or something. And no creepy-crawlies. I will not get bitten on the butt by some nasty bug."

Heero smirked and checked carefully for anything offensive. He didn't want Duo to get bitten or anything either.

Duo pushed Heero against a tree and gave him a seriously evil grin. He clasped Heero's hands in his and pushed them up against the tree over his head. "Stay" Heero just rolled his eyes and made a tiny whimpering sound. He knew what was coming and he'd missed it. Their one night together was too long ago.

Duo dropped to his knees and quickly had Heero's pants around his knees. He just hoped they were far enough away from the trail. He didn't want to traumatize some innocent young kid. Or the parents either.

Heero moaned softly as Duo took his already hardened length between his lips. Duo sucked gently then licked. Heero nearly lost his mind righ there. Duo was good. Very good. And Heero knew it. Right down to his toes. Duo took his time and made it last, until Heero finally whimpered. "God, Duo. Let me come, please. I'm losing my mind here." With one final hard suck Duo brought Heero to release pumping him easily until he was finished.

Then it was his turn. Heero offered him a handkerchief. The same one he'd used to signal with. He stuffed it into his mouth effectively gagging himself.

Heero had rearranged his clothing while Duo was busy. Now he knelt at Duo's feet and freed him from the confines of jeans and shorts. Duo moaned like he was being killed slowly. Heero smirked up at him and applied himself to his mission. Which was to drive Duo out of his mind.

He gently sucked at Duo's glans, then licked it. He crooked two fingers around Duo's shaft and stroked while he alternately sucked and licked. Duo whimpered and squirmed. Heero slid his other hand into the crease of Duo's thighs and stroked his perineum. Duo howled into the self-imposed gag. A few more quick strokes and a hard continuous suck and Duo came, jerking convulsively.

"Fuck."

"Later."

They returned from the woods looking mussed and saited. Duo grinned at Trowa and muttered, "Thanks, Mr. T."

"Welcome."

Zechs pretended he didn't know what had happened, but he had to ease his uncomfortably tight jeans. And keep his eyes off Chang.

Wufei just secretly eyed the bulge in a certain someone's pants and wondered.

The rest of the hike was accomplished with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of horsing around and foolishness. Zechs felt old, until he was tripped by Heero and tickled into gasping breathlessness by the band of laughing boys. He found that Heero had very strong hands and Quatre was ruthless in exploiting the littlest opening.

"Help! I give. I give. Quit . . . you heathens will get yours." Zechs wriggled out of their grasp, dumped his pack, and took off running.

Quatre quickly organized pursuit. "Here Trowa, cache the packs. I'll send someone back for them. Come on. Heero, cut east, Duo, you and Wufei just trail him. I'll cut over west and we'll circle him. Cut him off and we'll get him at the next bend. Go . . . go."

They all took off after Zechs. And they did catch him, right where Quatre said they would. He eyed the laughing faces and grinned back. He extended his wrists crossed as if for binding. "Ok, you got me. Now what."

"You have to pay a forfeit."

"What do you want?"

Wufei touched his wrists. "I claim him." Zechs raised an eye brow and started to say something cutting, but Heero caught his eye and shook his head. Zechs decided to wait and see what was up.

"All right, I'm claimed. Again, now what?"

"You have to do what I say for the rest of the day. Don't worry. I won't make you wash my gundam. Duo did that once, and it was a real mess. Water got into the hydraulics and he spent the next three days bleeding them." Wufei grimaced humorously. "Serves him right."

They got back on the trail and continued in the direction of the pick up. Wufei took off his fanny pack and gave it to Zechs to carry. Zechs realized something was up, but Wufei didn't seem too concerned, so he decided not to worry either.

They got to the mini-mart about twenty minutes later and entered to find a cheerful older lady behind the register. She greeted them with a smile and pointed out a sale on sodas.

The store was simple. A register by the door, with displays behind it. A door into a back area in the corner, with 'restrooms' painted on it. The coolers were lined up around the back and far side and the shelves in the middle were carefully stocked with a variety of necessities and a mind-boggling array of snacks; sweet, sour or salty.

The coffee pots were at the end of the counter, close to the register. Obviously for the lady's convenience; as they were old-fashioned restaurant style, with glass pots which needed tending to keep them from boiling dry and breaking.

Duo went into the back to the men's room. Heero wandered down one of the isles, looking at the snacks. Quatre and Trowa went for the sodas. And Zechs, longing for beer, followed them. Wufei trailed along, idly examining the drinks, looking for fruit juice. Not that he didn't like soda, but as he pointed out to Zechs. "We've sweated out a lot of micro nutrients in the last few hours and soda doesn't replace any of them."

"But I like soda. And I don't like apple juice. So don't even go there." Quatre held up a hand, palm out, refusing the juice firmly. Trowa handed him a bottle of fruit flavored sports drink.

"Here, take this instead. It's not soda, but it is better for you than that crap." He nodded to the soda Quatre was holding.

Quatre narrowed his eyes at Trowa. "I'm tired of healthy. I want bad for me. I want soda and chips and greasy burgers. I want beer and bratwurst. I want all the things we couldn't have when we were fighting and all the things I have to sneak because I'm Quatre Raberba Winner and 'we' don't eat that sort of thing." Quatre rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, Trowa. I'm sorry. I'm just tired of being a pampered prince. I had it better in some ways when we were running for our lives."

Zechs eyed Quatre for a moment, then gave him a gentle poke. "Listen to me. If you want that sort of thing, you order it and expect it to show up. No 'please'; no 'if you don't mind'. You just flat out get nasty if you have to. And I guarantee you'll only have to do it once."

Quatre sighed. "I just hate to upset any one. I . . . "

Zechs bared his teeth. "So you let yourself be managed into misery. Don't do it. You'll have hard enough a life keeping WEI on track, without doing without treats and such. And don't forget that you deserve privacy and a vacation once in a while."

Quatre looked sad for a moment. "Trowa is always telling me the same thing. But since my father died, my sisters have been fighting over the company and have nearly run it into the ground. I'm going to have to spend the next few years straightening up their mess. Then there's the colony I destroyed. I have to do something about that. Thank Allah that as many people got off as did. More than three quarters of the population were in escape pods. Most of the people who died were either soldiers or support personnel. The rest were either very sick or just stubborn. I'm guilty of so many . . . great . . . "

Zechs put a finger against his lips. "We both have a great deal to atone for. But hurting yourself, or making yourself sick, won't change the past. Find what happiness you can and move on. Do what you must, but don't punish yourself with little sacrifices. They won't help."

Quatre blinked tears back and smiled a little tremulously. "Ok. I think you have made a good point. I can't do a good job if I'm distracted and unhappy. The people I'm trying to help deserve my best. So . . . Trowa give me that damn soda."

Trowa gave Zechs a speaking look and handed over the requested soda.

"Sorry. I shouldn't. . . "

"Never say you're sorry for telling the truth. I've been trying to get him to see exactly what you told him for months. But . . . forrest and trees, I guess. Sometimes I'm too soft on him. I just love him so much. I don't want to see him unhappy. Thank you. I think maybe you got through to him where I couldn't. I don't tend to express myself very well sometimes."

"You don't want him upset with you, so you pull your punches. It doesn't make any difference if he's pissed at me. So I just slapped him in the face with it. Sometimes that's what it takes. Go get him a bottle of water. He'll be wanting it later."

Trowa just nodded and went to get the water. Zechs looked for Heero and found him looking over at him, he gave a nod of approval and turned away.

A sudden yelp from Duo made them all flinch. Heero poked him in the ribs, making him yelp again.

"Ok boys. I don't know what's going on, but no rough housing in the store." The motherly lady smiled to take the sting out of her words.

Duo popped his head over the top of the display he was standing behind. "Kettle chips. Love'em. Can't find them in town. Wonder why not."

"You're on the wrong side of the Divide. Townies. Flatlanders. Whatever. Don't buy enough of them to make it worthwhile to haul them all that way. You like 'em? I'll give you twofer. They're almost out dated."

Duo grinned at her in delight. 'Thanks. Hey! What's your name? Mine's Duo."

"Natalie. Pleased t' meecha." She stuck out her hand and shook with Duo. "Rest of you boys have names?"

They all introduced themselves and got firm hand shakes from Natalie.

"You boys get your stuff and get ready to check out. We close early on Friday, and Saturday. I've been robbed twice and don't intend to go through that again. And as for juice vs. soda. I vote for cranberry juice and ginger ale. Best of both. But you get to gettin'."

They all hurried to finish their shopping and check out. In order to hurry things along Zechs told her to just check it all out together and they'd sort it out later.

She checked out things and smiled at the assortment of goodies.

Wufei had chosen sports drinks and fruit. Quatre had his desired soda and a snack pack of celery and carrot sticks with dip. Trowa had fruit juice and chips. Heero, being Heero, had nuri bars and a smoothie. While Duo had a little of everything, an apple, ginger ale, chips, and a candy bar. Zechs had a bottle of beer and pretzels.

"Got ID?"

"Yes, I do." Zechs fished his wallet out of his fanny pack and handed her his ID.

"Zechs . . . Meer qwise. Odd name."

It's pronounced 'Mar key.' Old money and all that." Zechs put his nose in the air in an exaggeratedly haughty manner.

Natalie grinned at him. "Better get that nose out of the air like that. You'll drown if it starts to rain."

He grinned back and started helping her sack up the mass of snacks.

000

Here it is. The next chapter. Yay, I finished TSaP. Boo, I entered NaNoWriMo. But I'm not going to let it interfere with TPTP, I promise.


	18. Shocks and Aftershocks

The Price They Paid 18: Shocks and Aftershocks

Betaed by Skippyscatt

000

Zechs was still packing their purchases into the bags when the door slammed open and two figures rushed in.

"FREEZE!"

Everyone did.

Natalie snarled. "Dammit, not again."

Duo sighed and slipped out the back door into the storage/restroom area.

Wufei was caught in the back of the store near the coolers with Heero close by.

Trowa and Quatre were stuck right in the middle of the store.

Trowa stepped in front of Quatre and Heero got in front of Wufei. They all cursed the fish-eye mirrors in the corners of the store. They were there to give Natalie a good view of the whole store to prevent shoplifting, but now they could give the holdup men the same thing.

Zechs moved quickly to put himself between Natalie and the pointed guns. He just sat on the counter and swung his feet to the other side and stood back up.

"What! . . stay put! Don't move again! You do, I'll shoot you. Give us the money and no one gets hurt."

Natalie reached over to punch the 'no sale' button to open the register, but the other man snarled. "Don't move." Natalie put her hand back up. Then first man demanded the money again, so again she reached for the register. Again the man in the green ski mask told her to put her hands up. Zechs rolled his eyes.

"Will you two make up your minds? She can't open the register without moving her hands." Both men turned to him and he did his best to keep their attention. "Just one of you, please tell us what you want us to do. Both of you yelling, isn't getting us anywhere."

The man in the green ski mask snarled. "I know you. Who . . . fuck. Merquise." He turned to his companion. "It's the Lightening Count."

Zechs nodded and edged himself closer to the end of the counter, crowding Natalie with him. "Yes, that is I. Do I know you? . . . oh . . . Sorry. I suppose that was a foolish question."

Quatre took that opportunity to crouch down behind the shelves and then lay completely down on the floor. Wufei carefully opened the cooler door and slipped inside it. The shelves were on rollers and could be pushed completely into the cooler, allowing for filling and other maintenance without holding the doors open. He took advantage of that and pushed the shelf into the cooler, got behind it, then quietly pushed it back in place. Zechs saw in a mirror and started planning.

He could just see Quatre on the floor. He had no idea where Duo was, all he knew for sure was somewhere in the back of the store, in the store room. Wufei was in the cooler, but could he get out or was he trapped. Heero and Trowa were much too visible to do anything without getting shot.

Quatre signaled to Zechs using hand signs they'd learned during the war. he hoped Zechs would understand and sighed his relief when he got a slight nod in return. Heero and Trowa both made soft noises that let him know that they'd understood too. Then Quatre carefully crawled toward the same cooler door Wufei had used.

Meanwhile Zechs was still keeping the men distracted.

"I don't want to know who you are. I really would rather not be shot but I will tell you that this is useless. Robbing this woman won't get you very far. If you want the money just let me open the register and I'll give it to you."

The two men looked at each other confused. This wasn't as easy as they'd thought it would be.

"Look, Donnie. I don't . . ."

Black mask turned to Green mask and snarled. "I told you . . . no names. Dammit, now they know my name."

Green mask whined. "I can't remember all the code shit. I never could."

Black mask nearly screamed. "Why the hell do you think I had you wear a green mask and me a black one. You're supposed to call me Mr. Black. You're Mr. Green. Now point that gun at blondie and keep it on him."

Mr. Green continued to whine. "I don't see why I have to do it. Why don't you keep your gun on him? What about those boys?"

Mr. Black looked like he was about to explode. "THEY'RE A BUNCH OF KIDS." He took a deep breath. "Just ignore them. They'll stay where they are. The Count could cause a lot of trouble." Another breath and he calmed enough to try to plan. "OK. I'll keep my gun on him. You get the money. Then we'll get out of here. Get moving"

So Mr. Green clambered awkwardly over the counter motioning Zechs and Natalie even farther down the counter and punched buttons until the register opened. He clawed the bills out of the drawer and stuffed them into his pocket.

In the storage room Duo was listening hard as he tried to figure out a way to help his friends. Those two were loose cannons of the worst variety. Scared and stupid.

He heard a scratching noise from the cooler so he opened the door and Wufei and Quatre pushed by him quickly and quietly.

"Hey. What's up? Quat' what do we do?"

"I told Zechs, Heero and Trowa not to antagonize them. We've got to do something quick, though. Those two are scared and they're going to shoot someone sooner or later." Duo nodded that he was listening as he scanned the ceiling "Duo, can you get into the air conditioning?"

Just then Duo spotted the ducts he was looking for.

"Nope. Too small by far. But . . . " Duo craned his neck. "I think I can get into the space between the hanging ceiling and the roof. It'll be tight. But what do I do after I'm in there?"

"Can you make your way over the register? If we time it right you can drop out of the ceiling and you know that Heero and Zechs will both jump them. Trowa will get Nat out of the line of fire."

"Did you tell them to do that?"

"Used hand signs. Zechs understood them."

Duo nodded. "Ok, Quat', give me a leg up. I'll see if we'll both fit. If not . . . Q-Ball. Man, I hate to tell you this but there's no getting through. Too many conduits and stuff. I'll make way too much noise. What next?"

"We get outside and see if we can't get back in from the front. Back door?"

While Duo had been examining the ceiling Wufei had been looking for the back door.

"Door." Duo and Quatre barely heard him. They were keeping their voices low so that the two robbers wouldn't hear them, even though the chances of that were slim. The two were still shouting, at each other and their hostages.

"Ok, we go out. Block the door so we don't get locked out. We'll go around and try to peek in the windows. If we can get in and grab them without anyone being hurt . . . We'll just have to play it by ear."

Duo frowned. "Not like we haven't done this a thousand times, but I don't like civilians in the middle of shit like this. What are those assholes thinking?"

Wufei snarled. "They aren't. They just want what they want and don't care who gets hurt as they try to take it. We have to make sure that Natalie doesn't get caught in a cross fire."

Quatre smiled softly. "Zechs is between her and our targets. He'll get her to Trowa. Trowa will get her into the back. Hopefully, Heero will go for green and . . . Duo you help him. Wufei you go for black with me. Ok. Let's see what's what."

They didn't bother trying to sneak, there was no cover, instead Quatre lagged back and let Duo and Wufei go in first. They went in like any bunch of teenaged boys. Laughing and joking, pushing each other; right into the masked men.

The minute Zechs saw them come in he grabbed the nearest coffee pot and threw the contents at the man nearest to him. Mr. Green screamed and grabbed for his face. Zechs shoved Natalie into Trowa's arms, she scurried into the back, with Trowa right behind her. He pushed her through the swinging door and turned to see what he could do to help.

While Trowa was getting Natalie out of harms way, Duo had jumped Mr. Black and kicked him behind the knees. The man tumbled to the floor. Wufei jumped over Mr. Black, the height and length of his jump carrying him into range, and kicked Mr. Green in the head. Mr. Green yelped and dropped to his knees. Zechs clobbered him on the back of the neck with both hands, knocking him out cold.

Meanwhile, Duo was doing some kicking of his own. He'd gotten Mr. Black down and kicked him in the solar plexus. While he tried to whoop some air back into his lungs, Quatre snatched his gun up.

"Report!"

Duo spoke first. "Black hood down, you got his gun. No injuries."

Zechs reported immediately after. "Hostage safe. No injuries."

Then Wufei interjected. "No injuries. Green hood out cold."

Trowa called from the back. "All clear?"

Heero ambled up from where he'd pounced on the other hand gun. "All weapons accounted for. No injuries."

Natalie rushed in from the back. "You boys . . . you . . . I'm callin' the Sheriff. You, be careful with that gun. You . . . damn."

Natalie picked up the phone to call the Sheriff. Quatre kept his purloined fire arm pointed at the two masked men. Heero shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. He wasn't sure if he should have picked up the gun or what. He didn't want trouble from the law, after all he was a convicted felon on furlough.

Duo reached over and gently took the gun from Heero. "Got it. I'll hold on to this. You ok?"

"Yeah just . . . " Heero straightened his shoulders, then smiled. "We did it without shooting anyone. Guess we did good."

"Yeah real good. Not a shot fired, no one hurt."

Zechs listened in as Natalie called the Sheriff's department. All she said was that she'd had a robbery attempt which had been foiled by some of her customers. He couldn't hear what the dispatcher said.

When the Sheriff's Deputy arrived, flashing lights and siren going strong, he took charge of the two men. No one had bothered to unmask them, but the Deputy tugged the masks off and shook his head.

"Donnie . . . Bob. I don't know what you to idjits are using for brains but you should get your money back. It don't work."

Both men hung their heads and scuffled their feet. The deputy just pulled out two pairs of handcuffs and made a 'turn around' motion with one finger. They obediently turned and he cuffed Donnie.

Bob on the other hand had other ideas. He tried to run. When the deputy grabbed him, he turned around and punched him in the face, knocking him down.

Heero reached out, grabbed him by the arm, and kicked his feet out from under him. The deputy, half stunned, grabbed a can of mace from his belt and let loose with a stream of sticky slime that stuck to both Donnie and Heero. Donnie immediately started chocking, his eyes teared up and he dropped to his knees struggling to breathe.

Heero just wiped the mess off his face and pealed off his shirt.

Natalie blinked once, the deputy didn't say much, just handed Heero a damp paper towel. Heero used it to wipe the last of the stuff off himself, then turned to watch the deputy use another of the towels to wipe Donnie down. It seemed to help him, his breathing eased and his eyes quit watering quite so much.

"Boy, I never saw anyone take a face full of mace like that and not react at all. You Ok?"

Heero nodded. "Yeah. I've been . . . um . . . tampered with. Stuff like that doesn't affect me. You Ok. . ." Heero got a look at the man's name tag. "Deputy Kline? You ought to let Quatre take a look at your nose. Might be broken."

The deputy took a good look at Heero. "Do I know you? I never forget a face . . . names and such, yeah. Faces, never."

Heero just gazed at the man for a second then pointed to Duo. "Know him?"

"Yeah, I do." The deputy looked at all of them now that all the excitement was over. "I know all of you from somewhere."

Natalie took that pause to just hand Heero a clean shirt off the rack nearby. Heero pulled it over his head and emerged from the neck to see Natalie showing the deputy a magazine. Deputy Kline examined the center fold then just sighed.

"Ok, got a problem here. You . . ." He pointed to Heero. " . . . and you." He pointed to Zechs. "Are supposed to be in prison. Not making any judgmentshere. I got my own ideas of right and wrong. So what's the deal?"

Quatre stepped forward. "Winner. I'm their sponsor. We're on a rehabilitative wilderness expedition. I have custody of them for the next . . ." Quatre looked at his watch. "six hours. Then they have to be back to the facility. So . . . I hate to be demanding, but could we get whatever we need to do done, so I can get them back in time?"

Deputy Kline just nodded took out a note book and wrote something down. Then he got hold of the dispatcher told her he needed help. He told her who they were and finished, "I got to get these people on their way soon. Get Earnest and George here. A-sap."

But the damage was done. Someone had seen something, or someone with a police radio had heard something.

The next thing they knew there were Vid vans and reporters everywhere. It was chaos.

"What are we going to do? I don't want this whole mess to explode. It'll look bad for . . ."

Quatre was wringing his hands, worrying. Trowa reached out and took the twisting digits in his hands.

"Stop that. How could it possibly look bad? We stopped a robbery. No one was hurt. Capitalize on it."

"We need to split up. We don't want the reporters to interfere with the investigation." He tugged at the deputy's sleeve.

"Yeah, what is it? We've got a potential incident on our hands."

"Yes, and I'd really like to avoid it if it's at all possible. If we go out the back?"

Deputy Kline nodded. "Yeah. We'll take Donnie and Bob out the front. You guys catch my two buddies in the back. We'll meet at the sheriff's station. You will come there, right?"

Quatre nodded. "Yes, we'll be there. I don't know what happened to my driver."

"Probably couldn't get through the road block. Which is another thing the sheriff is gonna have a fit over. How did all these people get through?"

Quatre shrugged. "Beats me. They're like cockroaches, squash one and a dozen more show up."

"Yeah? Well, I got news for them. They interfere with this much more and they're all under arrest."

The man fingered his sore nose and grumbled under his breath. "Damn fool. He's in real trouble, robbery, assaulting an officer. Probably throw a few other charges his way and see what sticks. Come on."

So the two robbers went out the front in the charge of Deputy Kline, whose bloodied appearance attracted the attention of all the reporters. The rest went out the back, including Natalie.

They were put in three cars and taken to the Sheriffs station. Quatre got hold of his driver and told him where to meet them.

Zechs looked around with interest. He'd actually designed the building himself, several of which had been built here and there across Earth.

They were in a large meeting room on the first floor. It was nice, in an institutional sort of way. The big central table didn't crowd the room, even with all six pilots, a transcriptionist, and the Sheriff along with Deputy Kline. Kline looked a little worst for wear as his eyes had turned black.

"Ok, people. We'll just do a . . ."

"Debriefing. God, not another one. I thought we were all done with this shit."

Heero turned to Duo who looked like he couldn't decide whether to cry or get mad.

"Duo. Love. It's ok. This won't take long. Why don't you let me go first?"

Duo was having trouble again. He was the one who had the worst flashbacks. Dr. Terry had said it was because he was off center because Heero wasn't there. Quatre had Trowa and Wufei hadn't bonded with anyone yet. Duo had bonded with Heero and couldn't get his 'feet' under himself.

"NO! I don't want to be here. I want to go home . . . now! Heero get me out of here. It. . . smells. . . I can't."

The sheriff came over and put his foot right in it. "Boy, ya can't leave until I tell you ya can. Gotta get all the paperwork in order. Come on. Sit down and talk."

Wufei whispered "oh shit" Trowa and Quatre stiffened. Heero could only sigh. Zechs blinked, things had taken a definite bad turn. He just wasn't sure how, yet.

Duo was backing slowly into a corner, eyes wild. Zechs turned to Wufei to ask what was going on but Wufei was in almost as bad shape as Duo. He was hugging himself and shaking.

The sheriff was wiser than he seemed and realized that there was something very wrong. He motioned for the transcriptionist.

"Yes, sir?"

"Call Dr. Franklin and tell him to get here now. We got somethin' goin' on with these two. What I ain't sure, but I ain't takin' chances. Go . . . scat!"

It didn't take much time for things to fall completely apart. Duo managed to scoot himself under a small corner table and wedge himself there. Wufei was wild eyed and shaking hard. All he could do was stand and moan.

Zechs left Duo to Heero and wrapped Wufei in his arms cuddling and shushing him.

"Hush, Xiaolong. I've got you. Nothing will hurt you while I'm here. I promise. . . . 'Fei, tell me what's wrong . . . What's wrong?"

Wufei turned into his chest. "Zechs, I've got to get out of here. The smell. . . I can't stand it. We have to bring Duo . . . please . . . just get me out of here. . . . I'll be better . . . just get me away from that awful smell."

Zechs glanced at Duo and saw that Heero had gotten down on his knees and crawled under the table with him. They were huddled together like two puppies in a box. All you could see were two sets of big eyes. One glaring fiercely, the other round with fear and tearing.

Heero rocked Duo while he whimpered. "I can't breathe, I can't . . . 'Ro, make it stop. The air . . . that smell . . . please don't let them. . . . space . . . please."

Zechs put two and two together at the same time Quatre did.

Quatre spoke first trying to get the sheriff to listen to him, but all the sheriff saw was a boy and Quatre was obviously reluctant to make the scene necessary to get listened to.

"Sheriff! We have to get them out of this room. Something . . . some smell is triggering the flashback. We won't be able to do anything with them until we get them somewhere else. Out of the smell. Come, Wufei. I'll take you away." Zechs turned to Heero. "You bring him out of this room. Now! Come! We'll deal with the officials later."

Heero just nodded and hauled Duo out from under the table by main force and across the room. He followed Zechs and Wufei out the door and down the hall. Trowa and Quatre ran interference for them; sidetracking, or just plain stopping, anyone who tried to stop them. The sheriff followed them, stopping anyone who continued to try to get in the way.

"Everyone out of the way. We got flashback's here. Just clear out. Where's Dr. Franklin? Get him here quick."

A few people asked questions but most of them either got out of the way or started doing something useful.

One officer showed up with blankets and another with hot drinks. They soon had Heero settled with Duo on one blanket and Zechs and Wufei on another. They were wrapped in blankets and given the hot drinks.

Zechs cuddled Wufei and rubbed his back, but addressed Heero. "Do you have any idea what is wrong? Any at all?"

Heero grunted settling Duo more comfortably in his arms. "Yeah."

Zechs rolled his eyes. "Well, do you think you could enlighten me?"

"Tsubarov cut off their oxygen on moon base. Remember when we were all captured?"

Zechs grunted, patting a still shivering Wufei on the back again. "I heard something about it, but by then I was pretty involved in problems of my own. They nearly suffocated?"

"Yeah . . . " Heero turned to Duo, who was still choking. "Duo, look. Stars. We're on earth. There's plenty of air. Just breathe. Along with me . . . In . . . out . . . come on, baby." Duo started trying to breathe with Heero. He realized that it was just the smell, but he couldn't do much about his reactions.

Zechs realized that Wufei wasn't going to be able to help himself either, so he just wrapped his arms around Wufei's chest. Then he squeezed him until his lungs couldn't expand.

"Listen to me. Breathe in. . . ." Zechs loosened his arms slightly. "In. Don't pant. I won't let you. Breathe out." Zechs tightened his arms again, forcing Wufei to breathe out whether he wanted to or not. Heero seeing what Zechs was doing, did the same with Duo. Someone took the drinks away.

After a few minutes Wufei gulped, then choked out. "All right. Let me. I'm ok. Just . . . I'm ok now. . . it was that damnable smell."

Zechs petted Wufei and handed him the drink that someone handed to him. "Here. Drink some of this. It'll make you feel better."

Heero was cuddling Duo and helping him breathe. When Duo managed to reestablish a regular pattern of breathing, Heero handed him his drink again.

Finally they both were settled in their protectors'arms, breathing regular again.

A man in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt approached them.

"Excuse me. I'm Dr. Franklin. I'd like to talk to you, if it's ok."

He crouched between the two pairs of men and waited.

Duo just shook his head and snuggled deeper into Heero's arms. He felt embarrassed and didn't want to do anything more than hide his face.

Wufei sighed. "It was that smell. It brought back . . . things."

"What things? I think it's important to talk about it all now, before the sensations fade. If you let this go too long, you'll have problems."

"I've already got problems. I'm seeing someone now. But . . . Duo. Do. Not. Hide. You know Dr. Grace said it was bad. You have to face things."

Duo growled, "Fuck, Dr. Grace. I don't wanna talk about it. It doesn't do any good. I still have flashbacks and nightmares. When are they gonna go away . . . fuck! I hate this."

"Well. I know Dr. Grace. You can't be seeing him. He's completely involved with treating the Gundam pilots. All four of the free one's anyway."

Zechs grumbled, then announced. "All of these young men are Gundam Pilots. As am I, come to think of it. They have been through hell and are trying to make lives for themselves. This sort of thing isn't good for them at all. They need to feel safe, not have to rescue someone, then be put through what amounts to an interrogation. I've seen . . . vid . . . that makes me sick. Some of the techniques they've been subjected to . . . never mind. They'll tell you what they think you ought to know. But I want them out of here. If you need more information. Submit your questions . . . in writing, to their doctor. We'll see what we can do."

He stood up with Wufei in his arms, still clutching his tea. Heero hauled Duo to his feet then picked him up.

"Mr. Winner." Quatre came over to Zechs from where he'd been talking on his phone. "Is that your car?" Zechs nodded in the direction of a limo.

Quatre smiled, not a very nice one. "Yes. I just called my lawyers, and Dr. Grace. There should be some incoming calls in a very few seconds. Or I'm removing some people from my payroll."

Zechs nodded. "We'll be going to the car now . . . Heero . . . come! Trowa . . . doors please."

Trowa just smirked at Zechs, opened the limo door and helped Heero get in without putting Duo down. Then he climbed in pulling Quatre, back on his phone, behind him. Zechs handed Wufei in the door, Trowa took him long enough for Zechs to climb in and get settled, then he handed him back.

"I'm not a baby to be handed around like this." Wufei settled himself against Zechs, resting his cheek on one shoulder.

"No, you're not a baby. But you've had a nasty flashback. Just rest. Your mouth as well as your body. Hush."

Wufei started to grumble then decided to just enjoy the sensation of feeling completely safe.

"Woofers, just go with the flow. It's nice . . ." Duo snuggled Heero, "nice Heero. Nice hot chocolate. Warm . . . good . . . mmmmm." Duo settled deeper in Heero's arms and fell instantly asleep.

Zechs blinked at him, then gave Heero an inquiring look. Heero just shrugged, he had no idea whether this was good or bad.

Quatre snapped his phone closed and turned to the others. "Well. That settles that. My lawyers have called the sheriff and he's agreed; without argument I might add, to just accept a standard mission debriefing from each of us. I also called the . . ." Quatre waved one hand dismissively. "Whatever you call where you are. And they've agreed that you should come back there at once. It'll keep the reporters off you. Sorry. I was planning a nice supper, but I think we all need to have something light and go to bed."

Trowa glanced at his watch. It was almost eight in the evening.

Heero held Duo all the way back to the facility. He didn't want to let go, even after they drove up to the intake doors. He reluctantly let Duo go when Dr. Terry met them.

"Heero, I know you don't want to let go. He's been through a bad stretch, but I got a call from Dr. Grace, he's waiting for him at Mr. Winner's estate. Please . . . you know you have to let him go."

Duo gave Heero a brave smile. "Go on, pal. It's ok. Wufei and I will be fine. I'm . . . better now. That smell just got to me 's all. Go on. I don't want you to get into trouble."

Dr Terry turned to Duo. "He won't be in any trouble. I understand how hard it is to let some one you love go, especially when there's been a . . . problem. We'll just take it slow and easy. Come to terms with parting."

Duo got out of the car and stood wrapped in Heero's arms while Zechs got Wufei settled the limo seat, still wrapped in the blanket.

"Will you be alright, Xiaolong? I'll see if I can't stay with you, if you like."

Wufei gave Zechs a grateful look, but replied. "No, I'll be alright. I'll have a hot bath and meditate a while and I'll be fine. You go . . . look. The Doctor is waiting for you. Go on. Duo and I will comfort each other."

Zechs pulled out of the car and straightened up. Duo crawled into the same blanket with Wufei. Zechs smiled at the way Wufei opened his arms with the blanket still draped over them. He looked rather like some sort of odd bat.

Heero sighed when Duo crawled into Wufei's arms. Zechs turned to him.

"You ok?"

Heero nodded. "Yeah." At Zechs and Dr. Terry's skeptical looks he shrugged. "I'm not jealous, if that's what you're thinking. I just wish I could go with them. It's ok here. But it's better there."

Zechs nodded his understanding. It was better 'there', there with friends and companions who understood. People who would understand and accept, help with loving kindness, instead of obligation.

"We better get inside."

Heero looked at slumping shoulders and an unhappy expression. He felt worse for Zechs than he did himself. He had a some place to go, friends to be with, when he got out. And that would be soon. Zechs had nothing and no one. If he ever got out of prison, he'd be a 'remittance man'. A more horrible fate, Heero couldn't imagine.

The news covered the robbery of course. There wasn't a lot of footage, just what had been stolen from the small store's security cameras. It wasn't very good, but it showed exactly what had happened.

The reporters were all hammering on the few facts they had. And an interview with Natalie. She told her story simply and powerfully ending with the statement, "if those brave boys hadn't done something, those two fools would surely have killed me."

Relena watched everything on the vid case with interest. She hadn't seen her brother since he'd come back from Mars. She was doing her best for him but she had to be so careful. Accusations of nepotism wouldn't do anyone any good, and could do her political standing quite a bit of harm.

So she had her undersecretary take care of most of her relations with Zechs. She kept an eye on him, insisting on regular reports from his therapist and the facility. She didn't like most of what she heard, he was uncooperative, sullen, destructive and evasive. She wished she'd been told things much sooner. But as it was, she didn't know her own brother.

She watched the footage several times then asked Dorothy to get the uncut version. She watched that once, noticing two things. One, that Zechs made every attempt to protect the woman, Natalie, even going so far as to put his own body between her and harm. And two; he was wearing a bracelet. Which was odd, as he hated jewelry and refused to wear even his signet ring. Besides the fact that it was on his left wrist and would interfere with a watch. Very odd.

In fact, more than odd. She was sure that he would have worn the watch she sent him. Relena crossed her arms over her chest and did some heavy thinking.

Dorothy came in with tea and asked Relena what her frown was for. "You'll get lines, as Mother would have said. What is it?"

"Dorothy, do you . . . I haven't heard anything from Zechs since I . . . wasn't very nice to him when he came back from Mars. I don't know what I'm asking. Do you know why? I would have thought that he would at least have sent me a letter or two. Just because he's my brother."

Dorothy raised an eyebrow, now was the time she'd been waiting for. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

When she returned, she was carrying a file that had to be an inch thick and another that looked like a Psych report, and a small box.

Relena read the Psych report first and was relieved and happy to see that, while he was suffering from mild depression, he wasn't considered psychotic or violent. Except when his legendary temper got the best of him. Then the Doctor remarked that he was destructive to property, but seemed to go out of his way to avoid harm to personnel.

Next she opened the box and was astonished and a little hurt to see the watch she had sent to Zechs. She found a note wedged into the top of the box. 'Intercepted; not an appropriate gift.' and signed 'Lloyd Webster' That fussy little prick. I don't know why I chose him for an undersecretary. Her hurt turned to annoyance. No one had the right to intercept her gifts.

Finally she opened the file and got one of the nastiest shocks of her life. The file was full of communiques from Mr. Webster to Zechs, most of them demanding apologies for one thing or another and many of them secondary demands. It also contained detailed descriptions of Zechs requests for visits or even a simple phone call. All with 'Refused.' scrawled across them.

Relena pressed the buzzer on her desk and summoned Mr Webster into her office. When he entered, all oily obsequiousness, she pointed to the files and box and demanded, "What is the meaning of this? Who do you think you are?"

"Why, Miss Relena, you don't want anything to do with that bloody handed _'person' _he's not worthy of your notice. I just took it upon myself to shield you from his annoyance."

He looked so pleased with himself that Relent lost her temper completely, proving that even a total pacifist could be pushed too far.

"You nasty little toad! He's my brother. I've . . . he's. . . . he's the only family I have left and you let me think that he didn't want anything to do with me. You . . . GET OUT!"

The greasy little man had been trying to interrupt Relena and finally did.

"But Miss Relena . . ." and that was as far as he got.

Relena picked up a Dresden candy dish and threw it at him candy and all.

"I never gave you permission to call me Miss. You will get out of here . . . now. Or I'll call security. . . . Never mind . . . . Doro', call security and have this toad out of here now. Don't let him go back to his office. Have him searched. See what else he's stolen. Perhaps there's a gift from Milliardo for me somewhere in this mess. Something that I should have been able to treasure? See to it . . . please."

Dorothy calmly bowed to Relena and did as was requested.

She returned in a very few minutes with chamomiletea and some mini scones. "Here. Relena, my dear, please sit down and calm yourself. Now that we know what happened, we can . . . repair the . . . damage? Perhaps."

Relena accepted the tea and sipped for a moment. "Yes, perhaps. I don't know if I'll ever be able to fix this. What do I do? How do I start? Oh. . . if I were a swearing person."

"You'd sound like Maxwell at his worst. As to what to do. First, you tell Milliardo the truth. Then you make arrangements to visit as soon as you can. "

Relena sighed. "Oh . . . damn." she looked up at a knock on the door. "Yes . . . enter, please."

A security guard stuck his head in the door and asked. "What do you want us to do with this stuff?"

"What stuff?" Relena's heart sank into her satin slippers.

"Well, there's a pile of cards. Birthday, Christmas and all occasion, I'd say. And several boxes that look like jewelry or something. All addressed to you . . . all unopened."

Relena held out her hands like a little girl. "Oh! Gimme, gimme . . . . As Duo would say. I . . .I'd like to kick that nasty little toad."

The guard gave Relena a small tight smile. "I'll do it for you, ma'am. I'd say that little . . . ahem. He kept a lot of stuff from you and sent a bunch of other stuff back. Never liked that guy. Too full of himself by far." He entered with a file box nearly full of things. "There you go, ma'am."

"Thank you so much." Relena dug into the box and found receipts for returned food gifts, as well as cards and letters. She wanted to cry and finally did.

Dorothy took over opening the letters and cards, just extracting the contents and handing them to Relena to read. There was something for every major holiday and a 'monthly digest' letter for every month for most of the last year. As well as a small gift for Christmas, birthday and several 'just because'.

The thing that broke Relena's heart was the digest letters, they were hopeful at first, but near the last they were less and less so. Finally, the last letter, dated two months previous, only said that he wouldn't write and bother her anymore. He sent best regards and asked her to get in touch with him if she ever forgave him.

Relena took a deep calming breath. "Doro', I want every single communique between Mr. Webster and my brother brought to me. I also want the backlogs searched for every email sent to me or anyone in this office from him by whatever name he chose to use."

Dorothy didn't bother to say anything she just left and went to work. She got hold of Lady Une and asked her to send someone that was capable of doing the work quickly. Lady Une wondered a little but sent over one of her experts, never mind that it was nearly ten p.m..

Relena read through the retrieved mail with a mounting feeling of despair. They started out chatty, went through puzzled into disappointed then became stilted and then about three months ago stopped entirely.

Relena let her temper go again. "Damn that nasty little twerp. I wish . . . I wish . . . I wish Duo Maxwell was here. I'd ask him to . . . I don't know what."

Dorothy quirked her lips. "Don't you mean you wish Heero Yuy was here?"

"No, I don't. He'd be suspect at once. Maxwell and I never really got along, but I don't see him turning down an opportunity to blow up something. Or something."

Dorothy just pointed out that it was getting late. "You should go to bed. Tomorrow we'll see what we can do about making amends."

Relena just nodded and trudged wearily off to bed.

Dorothy took a few minutes to go over Relena's schedule for the next few weeks.

Well, it's a little short, but as I've said before, they end when they end. Next chapter should be longer.

Xiaolong - Little Dragon.


	19. Psych Out

The Price 19: Psych Out.

The next day Heero got a call from Dr. Terry asking him to come to the Psych office. Heero knew what it was about and was more that willing to see the doctor. He met Zechs in the waiting room.

The waiting room was unlike any other waiting room Heero had ever seen. It was very small containing two seating groups made up of very comfortable furniture. One area was a couch and love seat with coffee and side tables. The other was made up of three high-backed wing chairs with foot stools and side tables.

Zechs was seated in one of the wing chairs waiting for the doctor. Smiling Zechs offered coffee, remarking, "Dr. Terry said he'd like to see us both at one time if that's ok with you. It's fine with me, so it's up to you."

Heero accepted the coffee, fixed just the way he liked it. He'd rather have tea but coffee was all that was drinkable in the public areas. He shrugged. "I don't care. All he'll do is ask me . . . come to think of it he might not." Heero sipped at the coffee thinking.

"If you get any more cryptic you'll be incoherent. Explain." Zechs rolled his eyes, sometimes Heero was still so terse as to be almost mute.

"I don't like it when 'they' ask me how I'm feeling. Sometimes I'm not sure and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. I get confused and that makes me angry. Therefore, we don't get anywhere. Dr. Terry usually doesn't ask me how I'm feeling. He sometimes tells me how I should be feeling and that really helps. Do you know why he wants to see us together?"

Zechs shook his head. "Not a clue. I'll admit it is unusual. And around here unusual isn't good."

"In this case it is. We'll listen to Dr. Terry tell us we have to deal with things ourselves, then he'll give us some good, and I mean good, advice. He'll also probably have a stroke when he reads your file. I know he will, read it that is, he read mine when there was only one page in it."

"Read my file?" Zechs raised one eyebrow. "And how do you know what's in my file?"

Heero smirked at Zechs. "This place is a cracker box. I like to know what I'm dealing with."

"And my file told you . . . what?"

"That the shrink who was treating you is an idiot. He was supposed to treat me. But . . . " Heero shrugged, sipped coffee, and raised an eyebrow of his own over the cup. Zechs couldn't help the quiver that went through his shoulders. He wasn't laughing, really he wasn't. He could just see his old psychiatrist dealing with Heero in sullen mode.

When they both got in to see Dr. Terry, Heero smiled. Dr. Terry was dressed in casual jeans, a flannel shirt and loafers sans socks. He looked like everyone's older brother. Zechs, who had seen the man several times now, smiled .

"Going fishing?"

Dr Terry sighed. "Don't I wish. You two ok? Want to talk about anything?"

Heero nodded. "Yes. I don't understand why Duo and Wufei lost it. We were in the clear. At the sheriffs station no less. And they both went . .. South."

"Yes. Can you tell me more about it?"

Heero looked at Zechs. Zechs shook his head. "Not much. They both complained of . . . smells?" Zechs turned to look at Heero for confirmation, Heero nodded.

Dr. Terry sighed. "Well, that explains quite a bit. Something in the smell brought back sense memories of something bad. Smell is one of the things our subconscious remembers best. Good smells bring back pleasant memories of picnics and Mother's arms etc. Bad, and not necessarily unpleasant, smells bring back bad memories. Sometimes the worst memories are triggered. . . . I had a patient who was raped. She was baking sugar cookies when the man broke in. The smell of sugar cookies just sent her right over the edge. We never quite got her over it. But . . . what could have been in there to trigger a panic episode?"

Heero scrunched his face up thinking. Zechs thought too, without the facial gymnastics.

"Smell . . . what did we smell. Disinfectant . . . cigar smoke . . . I don't. " Zechs trailed off still thinking.

"And ozone. Something citrus. . . " Heero shook his head. "Nothing that unusual. Just your normal cleaning products, gun oil, air freshener, that sort of thing. Really common on most . . . space . . . station. . . . oh, shit. It smelled exactly like that damn holding cell."

Dr Terry made an noncommital sound and waited. Zechs bit at his lip for a moment, then gently poked Heero. "More Intel, please."

Heero flinched slightly, then told them about their captivity on the moon base ending. "We barely got there in time. Several of the prisoners nearer the pumps did die. That fucker Tsubarov wanted us all dead. If he couldn't use us, he didn't want anyone else to either. Then there . . . well. That's another story for another time."

Dr. Terry knew better than to push Heero, if he didn't feel it was pertinent to the present problem getting him to talk was like pulling teeth. Instead he turned to Zechs.

"And how did you feel." At the disgusted face he got, he laughed. "Let me finish. How did you feel watching them work?"

Zechs sighed. "It was like watching a commanding officers wet dream. I've never see such cooperation. It was as if they read each others minds. Fascinating. They even incorporated my natural leanings without a problem. I'd. . . . like to . . . work. . . never mind, that's impossible."

"What is?" Dr Terry gave Zechs time to organize his thoughts.

"What am I going to do if I ever get out of here? I have money. Not that much in the grand scheme of things, but enough to live quite comfortably. But . . . I just don't see myself raising horses or dogs. . . or farming. God forbid. I can't even keep a Ficus alive."

Heero shrugged. "A Ficus is hard to raise. You'd do better with . . . never mind. I did take your point."

Dr. Terry smiled and turned to Heero. "I'd like to know what you think he should raise."

"Well . . . a philodendron would do, or a Christmas cactus that would flower. Or any ivy, or . . . there's a bunch of house plants he could grow that don't take a lot of fussing."

"You've been looking into house plants? I wouldn't have thought." Zechs examined Heero's pink cheeks with some, carefully hidden, amusement.

"Duo likes them. I . . . some day . . . fuck! What am I . . . Dr. Terry?"

Heero turned to Dr Terry for help.

"Well, here we go . . . you are feeling several emotions at once. Remember we talked about that? You don't have to pick one. If you feel embarrassed, why?"

Heero thought about it for a moment. "Well. Embarrassed . . . men aren't supposed to like house plants . . . are they? And research . . . it's for Duo. I'd do anything for Duo. If he wants to live on a farm and raise turnips, it's ok with me. So. . . . research."

Dr. Terry nodded. "So, . . . "

Heero just shrugged. "So. . . . but I know that some men will laugh at me. And I don't like being laughed at. Maybe more so that a lot of others. I'm so young still . . . and people look at me and see a boy, that pisses me off big time. If they'd had to do half what I have, they'd be under a bed with their head covered, probably screaming, if they weren't comatose. Never mind my training. So I'm just a little sensitive."

Zechs abruptly left the room. Dr. Terry looked at Heero for an explanation.

"He gets upset easily. I think he got ahold of some of my files at one time or another. He'll be back when he's sure we've changed the subject."

"Do his feelings interfere with your relationship?"

"Not that I'm aware of. He's really a very nice person, all things considered. I . . . I think we're friends, at least I consider us so. I hope he feels the same."

Dr. Terry tugged at his lower lip for a moment. "I believe he considers you a friend. I'm very glad to see that you and the others seem to be including him in some of your activities. He's so lonely and . . . I'm sorry to say. Alone. But . . . Heero . . . " Dr. Terry folded his hands in what Heero privately thought of as his 'I mean business' posture. "If you . . . uumm . . . either be his friend, or make sure he knows that it's just a casual relationship. It will hurt him a great deal if you . . . "

Heero gave Dr. Terry such a fierce glare that he trailed off. "I know what you're trying to say. I would never be so cruel as to offer him false friendship. I wouldn't have gone as far as I have if I didn't intend to . . . accept him with open arms. We . . . we're very alike. We went through many of the same things and I really like him. So do all the others. Duo, quite frankly, would take up with Jack the Ripper if I liked him. But he likes him for himself." Heero smiled. "Wufei. . .likes him. . . _a lot_. Quatre likes almost every one and Trowa . . . you never really know about him sometimes but . . . I think he likes him as well. No reason for any of us to actively hate him." At Dr. Terry's skeptical look Heero grinned. "He tried to kill me just as hard as I tried to kill him. We got over it . . .the others can't dislike him if I don't . It's just the way it is."

Dr. Terry looked behind Heero to see Zechs standing in the open door with an unidentifiable expression on his face.

"Zechs, come in please. You look . . . can you . . . oh, my." Dr. Terry sighed, he wasn't sure if this was bad or good. Zechs didn't usually break down. His file said that he was emotionless to the point of frigidity. He wondered if it wasn't armor against the cruelty of his situation. It wasn't any better than breaking up the furniture, neither was very productive.

Heero didn't pause long enough to think, he just dragged Zechs to a chair and sat down. Zechs fell to his knees with his arms around Heero's waist. Heero let him put his head down in his lap. He patted the shuddering shoulders and made crooning sounds. Dr. Terry offered tissues and waited until the storm passed.

Zechs finally got himself under control and sat back on his heels. "I'm sorry. I . . . well, that was quite embarrassing. I don't . . . lose control. It's not . . . I wasn't trained."

Heero reached out and smacked Zechs on the back of the head. "Shit! Get over yourself."

"Well, I wasn't!"

"Yeah! Like I was?"

Dr Terry didn't quite keep up with all that, but decided that they knew what they were talking about and seemed do be doing a good job of helping each other cope. He had a warm feeling about both of them, finally.

"Here. Wipe then blow." Zechs took the offered tissues and did as he was told. "Now, . . . up front. I like you. Do you like me?"

Zechs sighed "We really have to do this?"

"Yeah"

"Ok. I like you. I like Duo, Quatre, even Trowa. I think I more than like Wufei." Zechs turned a little pink.

Heero smirked. "I'm stoic, not stupid. You be careful of him. He's . . . fragile. Not . . . I'm not sure how to put it. Merian hurt him a lot, then his colony. He's . . . "

"I think the word you're looking for is brittle. His temper is . . . like an over sharpened sword. . . don't know how to put it exactly. He's. . . " Zechs swiped at his face again.

Dr Terry interjected to help a stumbling Heero. "What you are trying to say . . . I think. . . is that he's been over trained, he needs time to relax, come to grips with all that has happened to him. He doesn't need anymore emotional upheavals. He's had enough."

Heero just nodded.

Zechs sighed. "Haven't we all? Had enough emotional hurts. . . I . . . just. . . "

Heero pushed and poked at Zechs until he was on his feet, then in a chair. "I don't even want to contemplate . . . I don't remember my real family. I'm sure I had one. I mean I didn't hatch or just magically appear under a cabbage leaf or something. But to see my . . . " Zechs gently put a hand on Heero's lips. Heero smirked and licked the palm.

"Ack! That's just nasty. Where's that been recently? You . . . well . . . "

Heero darted behind Dr. Terry, Zechs pursued him. Dr Terry just ducked under the swipe Zechs made at Heero.

Heero and Zechs played ring-around-the-rosie around the desk and still seated doctor for several minutes. Then the doctor called them to order.

"Ok, you two. That's enough. If you want to continue this sort of behavior, you should take it outside. In fact, do exactly that. Out. . . both of you. You're functional . . scat."

Heero grinned at Dr Terry and grabbed Zechs. "Come on before he changes his mind. I'm hungry. Let's go to that Chinese restaurant down the street and get noodles."

Zechs found himself laughing. He straightened his clothing, cleared his throat and calmed himself, a little. "Very well. Let's do that. I'm hungry too."He reached out, swatted Heero on the back of the head and took off running. 'Race you' trailing behind him.

Dr. Terry just called the front desk to make sure their fun wasn't spoiled by having to check out.

Duo sighed, Dr. Grace was a good guy and he liked him a lot. But sometimes the man just had no clue at all. He kept asking questions that had no answers. Like now.

He didn't know how he felt and he didn't want to examine his reactions. He wanted them to go away . . . now.

Dr. Grace had enough experience with Duo by now, to know that they were reaching an impasse. Duo could and did get stubborn. If he felt threatened, he got defensive, which, in his case meant that he clammed up. He didn't get nasty or smart mouthed, just really quiet.

"Duo, I know this is difficult. I can't understand how anyone in their right mind would send five fifteen year old boys into combat. Never mind trust them with something like a Gundam." He held up his hand to stop Duo from interrupting. "I know . . . all of you did jobs a full-grown man couldn't have, that's not what I mean. It's not that you're untrustworthy. It's your age that has me flummoxed. Why so young?"

Duo shook his head. "I know this. It wasn't age that was the prerequisite. It was size. The only Gundam that was built for a full-grown man was Heavyarms. Trowa is the biggest of us. The rest of the Gundams were built to . . . smaller standards. In order to include all the onboard systems needed, they had to save on space somewhere, that meant that the cockpit could only be so big. And a full-grown man wouldn't fit. Also, young minds are more impressionable. We were the only one's who could have the commitment to do what we did. And we're expendable. They had no expectation that we would live more than six to eight weeks at most. We were supposed to break the Alliance's back and die trying.

"Well, we sure fooled them. We managed to do our duty, survive . . . and be a pain in the ass to everyone. But . . . Doc. I really gotta tell ya, I don't like the alternative at all. As long as you're alive there's a chance. So. . . . you tell me . . . what the hell happened? If I knew that, I think . . . well, I don't like being so out of control over nothing. They didn't handcuff me, or hit me, or anything . . . only . . . that awful smell."

"And that's exactly what did it. The smell." Then Dr. Grace went on to explain exactly the same thing to Duo that Dr. Terry had to Heero.

Duo blinked and said. 'Well, . . . hell. Do you mean to tell me that every time I smell stuff I'm gonna freak out?" Duo hung his head. "Shit! That really sucks. You know that . . . most space stations, colonies, and even shuttles use the same stuff?"

Dr. Grace bit at his lip, he knew what was coming next.

Duo looked up at him, wide eyed. "What am I gonna do? I wanna . . . I want to go back into space. You mean to tell me every time I get on a shuttle. . . I can't go home like this. . . I'll be in a constant state of funk. I can't work like that. I can't do anything like that. Oh, hell. I'm so screwed."

"Duo, look at me." Duo covered his face with his hands. "Duo, it's not that bad. It's bad. But we can work our way through this. You have smelled each individual smell without trouble. In fact, I'm sure you've smelled that particular combination any number of times before last night. But something was added to the mix that wasn't there before . . . listen . . . would you mind if Wufei was here too. I think we might have a break through for both of you. Duo?"

Duo sighed, took his hands down and thought. "I don't mind. Wuffers won't laugh at me. He had a freak of his own. So . . . yeah . . . call him in. There's no reason for him to have to wait. A group . . . is two a group? . . . never mind. You know what I mean. Go ahead and call him. I'll make some tea while we wait for him. He'll want it. And, Doc. . . . ya know, I find it kinda nice myself. You tell him that and I'll deny it."

Dr. Grace just smiled at him and made his call.

Wufei entered the office and settled himself into the comfortable chair. He looked at Dr. Grace and waited for him to start a session. He wasn't best pleased right now but he was willing to try to be accommodating. The doctor was trying to help, although, sometimes he asked the stupidest questions.

Duo handed Wufei his cup of tea. Wufei nodded his appreciation and sipped happily.

"Well, to start off, how does it make you feel to have Duo wait on you like that?"

Wufei raised an eyebrow. "It makes me feel thankful that I have such a considerate friend. He's learned to make it just as I like it. You're implying that I'm making some sort of servant out of him. I'm not. Don't read more into this than there is."

Dr. Grace blinked. He had read it wrong. "Well, are there times when you wait on him?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "He hates coffee. But he learned to make double double latte mocha with extra foam and chocolate curls. Hand cut, at that. Just for me. So, if he want's a half spoon of sugar and two thin cut rounds of lemon. That's what he gets."

"I see. That's. . . charmingly supportive of each other."

Duo looked at Wufei and rolled his eyes. Wufei just sipped his tea, with that expression on his face that meant he wasn't happy.

No one else would have noticed, except one of the other pilots, but Duo knew that tiny frown line between his eyebrows and slightly curled lip meant 'real short fuse'. A thing that Dr. Grace didn't seem to be able to get through his head.

"Charmingly supportive? I find that condescending . . . at best. Duo remembering my secret vice when he only saw me drink it once is more than that."

Duo grinned. "Eidetic memory. Don't forget much of anything."

"Yes, and I find that Fascinating. How do you account for that? Is it a mnemonic trick?"

Duo blinked then turned to Wufei. "A wha'? Who?"

"Mnemonic means a pattern of words or letter used as a memory aid."

"Hell, Wuffers. Why didn't he just say that?" Wufei just shrugged and sipped. "Well. Look. I grew up on L-2 Cooper. It's the first L-2 module and the poorest. I never even saw a book before I was . . . like nine or so. So if I wanted access to information I had to remember it. Then Dr. Gtrained me even more. I don't forget things. Ever. . . . I think that may be one of the reasons I'm having troubles now. I _don't_ forget, even when I want and need to. I can't get things out of my head. They're just as fresh as if they happened yesterday."

"I see. Another question. How did he train you? It's possible that his techniques may be useful to others."

Duo shrugged. "Carrot and stick. Or in my case Cookie and stick. Remember, get a cookie; forget, get the stick. I'm not fond of pain."

Dr. Grace made a face. He couldn't get use to things these boys said. He just wasn't wired to understand the level of abuse the pilots seemed to take in stride. Almost as if they didn't expect any better.

Wufei eyed the doctor. "Tell me what you're thinking. I'm interested." He cocked his head and waited for the doctor to speak.

"I don't understand how he can be so . . . detached? Calm? His attitude is incomprehensible. Almost as if being trained to be a Gundam pilot was better than what he had before. And young Yuy, just blows me away."

Duo gave Dr. Grace a sharp look then realized that he really meant what he said.

"Ok Doc I'll give you the skinny and you ain't gonna like it. By the time I was six I was an accomplished beggar and thief. Begging comes easy when you're young and I look a lot younger than I am." Duo put on his best puppy dog eyed expression, let his lip tremble a little and sighed heavily. "Please, Mister. I ain't ate in . . . I forget. Just a Bit. All I need is three and I can get all you can eat noodles. Please?" He dropped the expression and grinned at the doctors horrified expression. "And if you can get a baby to pimp . . . claim it's your brother or whatever, you can really clean up. Stealing? I was good, but my conscience got in the way. I hated to steal from people who were as bad off as I was. And the one's that were fairly well off did pretty good at holding on to it. I mostly stole food . . . and medicine. . . and a leo. That pretty much cured me of stealing. That turned out to be a whole other level of horrible." Duo shook himself. "We'll change the subject now."

"Well, I'd really like to pursue that story line."

"No."

"Duo."

"I. Said. NO!"

Dr Grace gave up before he lost control of the session.

Wufei knew better than to do what he did next, but he couldn't help himself.

"Doctor, I don't understand your inability to turn loose of a hot potato. Do you really enjoy burning your fingers that much?"

"Not really. But part of my job is to open festering wounds. It's the only way to heal them. But naturally anyone resents and dislikes someone who constantly brings up unpleasant memories. Poking bruises is the only way to find them. Sometime it's hard to tell whether it's the right time or not."

Wufei made a sour face and glared at the man until he squirmed slightly.

"I really don't understand how teenagers can . . . make a grown man like me so uncomfortable. It's really annoying. Can you explain that?"

Duo piped up. "Sure can, Doc. I don't make people who don't know me uncomfortable. Just people like you, who either naturally realize what we are, or know. See. Any of us could kill a man in several nasty ways or so quickly that they won't even know they're dead until they hit the pearly gates. Or the hot one's." Duo shrugged. "It's a thing."

Wufei snorted. "Yeah and it doesn't hurt that you took dirty look lessons from Yuy. He could kill with a glance. Give a guy a heart attack."

"Yeah. You ever get a good look at Q-ball when he's pissed. Fry an egg, he would. And Trowa?" Duo shivered dramatically. "Brrrr. Freeze your balls off."

"Yes, we are talking about an impressive collection of nasty looks. Too bad I don't have one."

Dr. Grace snorted his tea up his nose. Duo whooped.

"Woofers! That 'Burning Justice' look of yours would set a forest on fire. And you've also got a supercilious, down the nose 'Excuse me worm you spoke' look that's worth money. Geeze, all I've got is "O-may o kur oss" from Heero and that street rat glare that Heero always laughs at."

Wufei eyed Duo in astonishment. "That street rat glare scares even me. But the one that really means business is the one where you smile. Now that one is piss worthy."

Duo looked a little abashed. "Smile and make them wonder who you're gonna hurt next."

"Exactly"

Dr Grace realized that they'd gotten completely off track and managed to get back to the subject at hand.

"You two do realized that we've wandered fairly far afield. The smell. Back to the problem please."

"Ok, you figure out what to do about our reactions to that smell. Duo can't go home until we figure this out "

"Ok. This is the way I see it. You've all been exposed to the smells several times without problems. This time there were grave problems. Reactions that you couldn't control. So something else had to be a factor. But what?"

Wufei thought, he looked at Duo who just looked back. "Got me. Woofers, your guess is as good as mine, probably better."

"Very well. Uniforms, for one. Deputies all over the place. And . . . stress. Adrenalin to burn and no place to go with it. And the sheriff started out with an attitude. Sounded like he was ready to start an . . . interrogation . . . hhuumm."

"Yeah. Well, I think it might have been all those things put together. But the smell was what we noticed the most for some reason." Duo looked thoughtful. "Doc, what do you know about aversion therapy?"

"Not that much. I do, however, know that it's very effective. If the subject is cooperative and willing. I'll see what I can find out. I think if we're going to do something like that . . . especially with you two . . . I'd rather turn the therapy over to someone much more experienced."

"Sounds good to me, Doc. Can we go now. I'm hungry again. I was too nervous to eat a good breakfast."

Wufei grinned. "Yes, it was quite inadequate. You only ate four eggs. And two pieces of toast." He grimaced slightly. "I didn't do much better. All I could stomach was tea and toast. I hate it, I just hate this." Duo looked for cover. "I . . .HATE . . . THIS!" Wufei threw his tea cup across the room spattering tea everywhere.

Duo shook his head at Dr. Grace, who was ready to buzz for help. "I got him. You take off."

Wufei just stood where he was. He couldn't have moved if the floor was on fire.

"Easy there buddy.. . . I got ya. . . .come here." Duo held out his arms and just waited. Wufei turned his head and looked blankly at Duo. "Come on. Chang, you gotta let it out. It's eatin' ya up alive."

"Grammar, Duo grammar. Watch your grammar." Wufei couldn't figure out whether he wanted to scream, cry, or break everything in the room, and it showed.

Duo had been expecting this for a while. Wufei hadn't shown much emotion all through the trials and the rest of their troubles, so he was due for a really big blow up. He even deserved it.

"I need to . . . do kata. . . meditate. I can . . . I don't. . . I can't. . . "

"Fuck! Chang Wufei, make up your mind, so I'll know which way to duck." Duo waited while Wufei got himself together a little.

"I'm going to meditate. I need to be calm."

Dr. Grace put in his, well intentioned, two cents worth. "Why?"

"Because if I don't, I might do this." Wufei brought his hand down on the coffee table in a 'Dragon Hammer' which broke the solid slab of maple in half across the grain. "Or this." He kicked the pillar between two sets of French doors. It shattered into splinters. "Or this." Duo grabbed the doctor and dragged him from behind the desk just before Wufei smashed it into the wall, breaking it into bits and knocking a huge hole in the plaster.

"Doc, we better just leave him to it. He's been saving up for three years. Wife, colony, Heero, too much fighting, too much death. He stays calm, keeps it all together. I don't know how. But now he's off and trying to stop him is just asking for a boot up your butt. Come on. Let's get out of here before he remembers he's Chang Wufei and above this sort of thing."

They got out the French doors and left Wufei to his well-deserved temper tantrum.

Quatre and Trowa came running up. They'd come to the office through the hall, but hearing the noise for themselves, they'd decided discretion was the better part of valor and come through another room to the terrace.

"What's going on? Is . . . oh, Duo? I . . . who . . . "

"Hey Q-ball. Wufei finally flipped his lid. Give him some time and we'll go in and lasso him. 'K?"

Duo was cheerfully ignoring the sounds of destruction.

"Is he going to hurt himself?"

"Probably. But gotta do. Ya know? Let him be. He's held on long enough."

Trowa looked through the broken French doors and decided that Wufei was in no danger of really hurting himself, or anyone else. The furniture didn't matter.

Quatre glanced at Trowa and received a slight nod. "He'll run down in a few minutes. Leave him alone."

"Ok. What do we do next?"

Dr. Grace couldn't believe how calm they were. If he'd had a friend who suddenly started smashing everything in sight, he'd be at least a little upset himself.

Quatre took over. "Duo. Go get his tea for him. That . . . you know how he likes it?"

"Yeah, on the job." Duo left for the kitchen.

"Trowa, could you get . . . towels? Blanket?" Quatre bit his lip. "Both, I think. After this, he's going to be a little shocky. Keep him warm, dry off the sweat. I wish Heero was here. If we have to restrain him, we're in trouble. Doctor? Could you please explain to me how we came to this?"

"Too much repression too long. Pressure cooker. He's just finally let go. He'll feel much better after this. Expecting this level of self control from such a young person, yourself included. Is . . . outrageous, counter productive, and unnatural. You all need to . . . fool around, indulge in horse play. Have fun. Be young."

Quatre gave the doctor a disgusted look. "We used up our childhoods producing peace for humanity. I have a company to run. We all aren't children, expecting us to act like seventeen year olds will only lead to disappointment."

"I realize that. But still. I don't aim for normal. I'll settle for functional. And this sort of explosion is not functional. How many times has he done this?"

Duo arrived with tea, in time to hear the last question. "Never, Doc and that's the problem. You said it yourself. Too much too long. He's entitled."

"I see. You all are so self-contained. It's hard to treat you when you won't tell me things. I understood that he's always had a temper. I thought . . ."

"Thought wrong. Temper, yeah. But not destructive. Just rants about justice and whatnot. He'll wind down about the time he smashes every thing in the room."

Dr Grace smiled. "You all mostly have a fairly good grasp of what's going on. I don't know what you need me for."

"To tell us when we're off track. You're doing a good job, Doc. Don't give up on us just yet." Duo peeked in the door. "Come on. he's winded."

So they went in and no one but the doctor was surprised at the mess. Every piece of furniture was smashed, the upholstery ripped to shreds, stuffing all over. Papers and books were ripped to bits and the computer was in bits in the fireplace along with most of the china and glass in the room. Wufei stood in the middle of the mess, panting and sweating.

Duo came at him carefully, from the front. "Hey, Chang Wufei. Got some nice tea here. Just like you like it. Don't know why you want sugar and lemon. Didn't you tell me once something about . . . "

"You're not supposed to sully the flavor with additions. Tea is to be drunk pristine, so that you can savor the tastes of the tea. Gimmie."

Wufei took the tea mug from Duo and sipped, then gulped the scalding liquid.

"Oh. Well, who the hell told you that particular piece of crap." Duo took the blanket from Trowa and wrapped it around Wufei. Dr. Grace wisely stayed out of the way simply observing.

"Dr. O. Before I was accepted to be trained along side Merian. I like it plain. But when I'm off center. I want sweet and sour. I . . . well, I like it, be damned to them all. It's my tea and I want sweet."

Wufei started shivering. The sweat drying off him was making him chill.

Duo wrapped his arms around Wufei and hugged him. "Here, dry your hair." Wufei started to reach for the towel Trowa was holding. But the blanket slipped. Quatre pulled it back up and carefully got hold of Wufei from the other side. That put Duo on one side of Wufei and Quatre on the other. Trowa just stepped up and put the towel over Wufei's head and started drying his hair.

"Quatre, we need to get him into a tub. He'll stiffen up something awful. You run up and fix it, will you.?Don't leave it up to a servant."

Quatre sniffed slightly. "As if. They're all afraid of us, when something like this happens they run like rabbits. I'll warm the oil, shall I?"

Trowa nodded. "Yes, please. I'll give him a good rub down, then we'll get him into bed." Trowa turned to Duo. "You ok?"

"Surprisingly, yeah. I'm fine. Think I'm a little more used to flipping out than he is. Bothers me but . . . well, hell. Whatever. I could use a nap though."

Wufei gathered himself together. He turned to Dr. Grace and bowed. "I'm sorry for the scene. I . . . feel much better. If it's any comfort. Oh, Quatre. I'm sorry about the furnishings. I'll . . . "

"Shut up." Quatre pulled Wufei toward the stairs. "It doesn't matter in the least. Come on."

Quatre hurried ahead to fill the tub. Duo took one side of Wufei and Trowa the other. Together they helped him up the stairs and into his bathroom. Quatre had the tub half way full and was scattering bath salts into the water when they came in.

"Mmmm, smells nice. I'll leave you to your bath. I'm going to go have one of my own.. . .Chang. . . you need anything?"

Wufei shook his head. "No, Maxwell, you've already given me the one thing I need the most. Go have your bath. Trowa will see to me. Scoot."

Duo gave Wufei a cheeky grin and a last long evaluating look.

Trowa stopped Quatre in the hall. "What do you think?"

Quatre considered."It's the break through we've been waiting for. Duo's doing fairly well. He's open and honest about his feelings. Wufei is so used to being strong that he's falling apart inside. I've got my eye on Zechs for him. Heero and I had a short talk. Zechs needs us as much as we need him. Go to Wufei. I'll take a quick peek in on Duo. But I've got to be in my office in half an hour. I'm . . . Trowa. Those three sisters of mine are becoming a real problem."

Trowa took time to just cuddle with Quatre. "Don't worry. You know between us, we've got enough voting stock to squash them. I just wish we knew who had that odd six percent."

Quatre took his peek at Duo, got a jaunty thumbs up and after a stern look, headed for his office.

Trowa went to Wufei.

"Chang? You awake?" Wufei grunted. "Can I come in?"

"Yes. Come on in. I'll be out of the tub in a minute."

"Come to the bed when you're dry."

Trowa put the oil warmer on the night stand and spread towels on the bed. He rubbed his hands together.

"I'm ready." Wufei walked into the room unselfconsciously naked. Trowa examined him dispassionately. If it had been Quatre that would have been a whole other thing.

"You didn't hurt yourself?"

"No. Not a scratch." Wufei lay on the bed on his stomach. He turned his head to the side and rolled his eye to gaze at Trowa. Trowa gazed back calmly.

"I'm going to give you a deep massage. You'll probably fall asleep. I'll cover you with a sheet. When you wake up, just use one of the towels to wipe off the rest of the oil. If you take another bath, you'll stiffen. Ok?"

Wufei sighed. "Yeah. But . . . do I always have to 'pop my cork' as Duo would say, in order to get a massage?"

"No, but you do have to ask. I can't read your mind. Muscle reading is about as far as I go. And your body lies."

"Hmpf. Doesn't!"

"Does. You don't look stiff when you are, and sometimes, especially when you're mad, you look stiff when you're not."

Wufei grunted when Trowa touched him

"See? I know my hands aren't cold, I warmed them. But you . . . you feel like wood. Relax."

"Harder to do, than to say." Wufei tried to relax, but he still felt off.

Trowa dug his thumbs into oak hard back muscles and worked them gently until they started to loosen. Then he dug in. Wufei moaned softly. It felt so good, Duo tried, but no one gave a massage like Trowa.

When he was finally done, Wufei had fallen asleep, just like Trowa had said he would. Trowa took the folded sheet and unfolded it half way. He covered Wufei with the double thickness of flannel, tucked it in around him, then carefully lifted his head enough to tuck the pillow under his cheek.

Wufei barely stirred when he shut the door with a soft click.

Quatre wandered into Duo's bathroom for a few minutes.

"You really ok?" Quatre worried about Duo, the flashbacks were few and far between, but they were always bad.

"Yeah. Will you look into an aversion therapist? I like Dr. Grace, he does good. But I trust you better."

"Aversion therapy.. . . um. . . what do you know about it." Quatre hadn't heard much about this form of therapy.

"Not much. I'm gonna take a bath, then a nap. When I wake up, I'm gonna eat a horse and spend the rest of the day surfing for intel. You better leave soon. You need to be in your office to talk to Yasmine in about. . . ten minutes. What you gonna do about her?"

"Not sure yet. I hate to exercise my option, but it looks like I may have to. Those three are tearing the company apart."

"We all vote on your side. It gives you, I forget how much. But with all the stock on your side, what's the problem?"

Duo sank farther down in the tub, closing his eyes.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life micro managing this company. I'd like to get it set up so that inertia will keep it on the right track for several years. With just a little fiddle from me once in a while."

"Oh,. . . um. . . why?"

"Need to get things taken care of on several fronts. I can't do that if I'm constantly trying to keep my stupid sisters from partitioning the company. Isn't good."

"Hmm. Partitioning the company. That's not good. Why the hell would they want to do that."

"Power."

"Hh. Wish we knew where that odd six percent is. According to company what you call it. That would give us a lock on things."

"By laws. And it would. I could set things up and just check on a few people once in a while. Until I get my sisters off my back, I can't do some of the things I want to do to help Heero and Zechs. And I'm forever watching my back. Dammit!"

Quatre punched the air in frustration, nearly fell into the tub and snarled sourly, eyes snapping sharply.

Duo scrooched deeper into the tub. "Well, don't have a cow. We'll figure out something. Just you wait and see. What we need to do is have a good old fashioned planning session. Set the whole thing up like a mission, figure out what to do with all three of them to keep them occupied until you can squeeze them out. Where's their power base? Do they really have that much power or are they just running a scam and hoping you won't realize it until too late?"

Quatre stood up, straightened his clothing, and said softly. "Duo. You're schrud as it comes. Anybody tells you you don't understand business, tell them to fuck off. You just saved me a bunch of trouble. I have to go. I need to do some research. Then . . . all bets are off. I'll treat them like I would anyone trying to pull this shit. I have to get rid of this problem. The pirates are ruining the shipping business. They . . . you don't need a lesson in corporate diversification. Gone . . . bye."

Duo settled into his bath with a sly smirk.

Quatre spent several hours at his computer. When he was done, he had pinched two of his sisters out of the business completely. He'd found firm evidence of inappropriate dealings and could now force them to sell him their stock. He did.

The last of his problem sisters had just enough stock to be able to hold him off. But her husband was a reasonable man. He hadn't realized what she was up to. He was wise enough to know when he had it good. Quatre had been trained from birth to run WEI, he knew the ins and outs of the company without really thinking about it. It didn't matter to Douda how old or young Quatre was, as long as the money kept coming in. To interfere with things, just because you could, didn't seem wise to him. He agreed to sign over all proxies in perpetuity, in exchange for stock in a more malleable company. One sister Fatima could manipulate to her heart's content, at least until she ran it into the ground.

Wufei slept most of the afternoon and late into the evening. He woke up, put on a kimono and found a book. He spent the evening reading, reacquainting himself with one of his favorite poets. Duo brought him supper on a tray.

Trowa went to the gym to work out, then spent the rest of the day, except for lunch which he ate with Quatre, arranging for their trip to L-5. He sighed. He wasn't too interested in going to L-5 again, but if Quatre was going, so was he. He wasn't going to be parted from his lover ever again.

Duo took his bath, ate in his room, then went to sleep. He wished for Heero as he fell asleep. When he woke up, he started researching aversion therapy and found out some very interesting things. He got the name of the best in ESUN and sent a file to everyone. Then he went in search of Wufei.

"Hey Woofers. What cha readin' Somethin' good?"

Wufei took his readers off, he was long sighted and needed them to read. "If you like ancient Chinese poetry, it's good."

"Don't know that I've ever really paid attention to it. Read me one?"

Wufei smiled as Duo settled himself in the opposing chair. "Very well. I'll have to translate on the fly, so it might be a little rough."

Wufei read Duo two poems. Ones that were his particular favorites.

"Well, that's good. I'm gonna go now. You finish up. I got you some supper. Just a cold sandwich and tea."

"Thanks."

"Oh, sent you a file. When you get a chance, read it will you. Then we need a meeting. G'night."

Heero and Zechs made a day of it.

"Hey! Don't hog those noodles. I ordered enough for four."

"Yeah? Well, you eat as much as Duo. 'S why you're a giant."

"Can't help it of you're a midget." Zechs reached over to help himself to more soba and tofu

Heero smacked his hand without heat. "Don't reach. I'll pass."

"I can reach, you're busy eating". Zechs scooped noodles into his bowl.

Heero grinned at him around a mouth full of ramen and shrimp.

"Yeah, they don't call it boarding house reach for nothing."

Zechs eyed him questioningly. "Boarding house reach?"

"Yeah. When I was with Oden, we'd stay at boarding houses sometimes. If you wanted something you'd better be able to reach it for yourself. No one much passed things. Some of the houses even had the one foot rule posted in the dinning room."

Zechs gave him an enquiring look. Which made Heero snicker, Zechs had a wad of noodles dangling from his lips. He quickly slurped, chewed and swallowed. "One foot rule? Tell!"

Heero took time to chew and swallow his own mouth full of food. "Yeah. You have to keep one foot on the floor when reaching for things at the other end of the table."

Zechs nearly choked.

next chapter Relena and zechs meet again and things heat up some.


	20. A Musical Interlude

The Price 20: A musical interlude

* * *

Betaed by Skippyscatt

* * *

Heero settled in his favorite chair on 'his' terrace. There were three other terraces in the small garden with similar setups, but he'd never seen anyone but Zechs use them. So he decided this was the perfect place to practice his whistle.

He'd chosen a D whistle as the most common tunes were all in D or G. He had just started to play when he was interrupted.

"Boy! Here, Boy!"

Heero turned to look at the man across the garden from him. He was standing in the door of his 'cell'  
motioning to Heero.

"Come here!"

Heero shrugged, stuck his whistle in its case and put it on the table, then he went to see what the man wanted.

"What do you want?" Heero couldn't help the slightly dirty look he gave the man.

"Don't get insolent with me. I'll have your job. Come in here and see what's wrong with my coffee maker.  
It won't work."

Heero walked into the kitchenette, looked at the coffee maker then gave the man a smirk. "It helps if it's plugged in." Heero reached over and plugged the machine in.

"Plugged in? Well . . . I never. I didn't think of that. I'm not good with machines."

Heero looked closely at the man. He was old, at least sixty. Well, not really that old. Heero started to excuse himself.

"If that's all you want, I'd better go."

The man was fiddling with the coffee maker. "Oh, yes." The man cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about earlier. I . . . tend to have a bad attitude first thing in the morning. I really need my coffee."

"Oh, that's ok. I have a friend that's even worse." Heero started out onto the terrace.

"You better go through this way." The man pointed to a service door. "I've heard that we have two of the Gundam pilots right here in our courtyard. You don't want to run into one of them. They're real killers."

Heero bit his lip. "Um . . . I can't go out a service door. I'm not allowed."

"You're not allowed? Then how do you do your work. . . . and I really won't get you in trouble with your boss. I'm just cranky BC. So . . . " The man raised his eye brow at Heero, waiting for an answer. Hee-  
man, just relax. No one's after us anymore. Heero snorted at his thoughts.

"I'm an inmate just like you. I'm not allowed into the service areas."

The man looked startled. "What . . . oh, I was told that it's not acceptable to ask that. I apologize."

Heero just shrugged. " 'S all right." He couldn't help a slightly cheeky grin, after all, he wasn't actually telling a lie. "Got in for . . . um . . . I think they called it civil disobedience. Like TP-ing the court house. Stuff like that."

"I see . . . well, if you're sharing I will too. I'm in some serious trouble for tax evasion . . . but, I don't understand how. . . . I'm just . . . I didn't do my taxes. My accountant did them. But he's not in trouble, I am. . . . I'm just a teacher. What do I know about taxes?" The man sighed.

Heero shook his head. "I don't know anything about taxes either. I have a friend that is really good at accounting. I could ask him to look things over for you. Perhaps he can figure out something . . . um . . . by the way. My name's Heero. What's yours?"

"Oh, its Charles Fox. And please don't call me Charlie. I never cared for it."

"Pleased to meet you." Heero held out his hand.

The older man took it and Heero was startled to feel his hand. It was soft, the skin thin, and the bones felt fragile as a bird's.

"My, that's some grip you've got there."

Heero immediately eased up. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget. Are you ok?"

"Oh, yes. I'm fine. Now, young man. I . . . forgive me. I'm a retired teacher, as I said. I taught music. So I'm interested in your education. You are furthering it, aren't you?"

Heero watched as the man continued to fuss with the coffee. He realized the man wasn't going to get anywhere.

"Here, let me do that. Shall I make two cups? Or just one?" Heero looked over his shoulder

"Two, of course. Now, I believe I asked you a question. I would like an answer"  
Charles sat carefully at the table and gave Heero a stern look.

"Well, let me see. I'm taking several courses via a net connection. I'll give you a transcript if you like.  
However, my psycharitrist and my guardian have selected my classes for me. With plenty of input from me, I might add."

"I see. What are you majoring in?"

"Not really majoring in anything much. I'm getting several Masters and Bachelors, mostly mathematics, computers; hard ware, not soft, and . . ." Heero trailed off at Charles's disbelieving look. "I know it's hard to believe, but I really am. I want to have an overview of several different sciences. I think I'm going to go into colonial construction. If I can . . . I may never be allowed off Earth. So . . . never mind"

Charles looked at Heero with some sympathy. "I see. Colonial construction. Sounds interesting. What would you be doing. With all those different degrees . . . I can't figure it out."

Heero smiled rather dreamily. "Site manager. I really think I could do a good job."

"Construction workers can be really . . . oh, thank you." Charles accepted the cup of coffee with a sigh.

"Construction workers are hard men. They have to be. Especially suit workers. But I don't think I'll have too much trouble. They'll only mess with me once."

Charles gave him a disbelieving look. "You're much too young to be so cocky. Men like that don't respect .  
. . er . . . anyone with only college experience. If you know what I mean."

Heero finished his coffee and nodded. "Yes, sir. I know exactly what you mean, but I'm one of those Gundam pilots. A real killer. They won't mess with me but once. See you."

Heero sauntered out the French doors, leaving Mr. Fox to stare after him.

He returned to his terrace and whistle.

* * *

Zechs saw Heero go into the stranger's rooms but decided not to interfere. Heero was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Besides, the man looked like he was about to blow away. He was barely taller than Heero and probably didn't weigh as much. He looked about sixty, studious and innocuous.

He went in to make tea. While he was waiting for the water to boil, he heard a sound that he could only suppose was Heero playing his whistle. It sounded different from how it had in the shop. But that was all it could be. He wondered what their courtyard mates would make of this.

When the water boiled, he poured it into a pot, added it to an already prepared tray and took it out to his terrace.

"Heero. Tea's ready. Come over. I've got some of those cranberry scones you like."

Heero took his whistle down and smiled over at Zechs. He'd been practicing secretly for a while and now he felt secure enough in his new found skills to show them to Zechs.

Heero settled at the small ice cream parlor table and accepted the cup Zechs handed him.

"What was that song? It's very pretty." Zechs poured his own tea.

"It's called Crested Hens. Showed up in the late 1600's old calendar. I think. It's in O'Neals. I could look up the origins if you're interested."

"Not really. Do you have sheet music?"

"Just the tune line. Old Irish musicians go in for original embellishments. You'll hear a dozen versions of the same basic tune. You want, I could run off the melody for you."

Zechs smiled over his cup. "I've been practicing my harp, we could do something together. You think?"

Heero smiled back. "Couldn't hurt. I just hope we don't get in trouble for disturbing our neighbors."

Zechs handed Heero a plate with a scone and some butter on it. "If we bother our court mates, we can move our practice to the music rooms." At Heero's blank look, he explained that there were several soundproof practice rooms available for instrumentalists so they wouldn't disturb others.

Heero sighed. "I wish. I . . ."

Zechs watched for a moment then deciding that Heero wasn't going to continue, commanded "Don't peter out on me. What do you wish? I don't have much power anymore, but I believe I have enough to grant you your wish. You never want much."

Heero bit at his lip then decided. "I wish I could have all the guys in for a jam session. They all play something. Quatre plays violin, Trowa plays the flute, Wufei will admit to playing a shakuhatchi and Duo plays key boards."

"I wouldn't have thought that Maxwell would play an instrument, when did he have a chance to learn?"

"At the orphanage. Sister Helen started teaching him on their old piano. Then Professor G continued them as a reward for something or other." Heero shrugged. "He knows a lot more than he lets on."

"I see. Have you all ever gotten a chance to get together?"

Heero shook his head. "No, we were never all together long enough to get to play together. At least we weren't when we were happy enough to play. I never had a whistle, and Quatre only played sad music alone, after. Trowa and Duo both hid away too. So. . . . but now things are so much better. Maybe,  
someday."

Zechs took in Heero's wistful expression and slumped shoulders and decided to make sure that they had their 'jam session' as soon as he could manage it. Maybe they'd even let him join in.

"Well, if that face falls any farther, it'll hit the ground, as my old nurse used to say." Zechs picked up the whistle. "Play me something else. Something happy. Please?"

Heero licked his lips and thought. Then he put his whistle to his lips and played Gary Owen, then Over the Waterfall.

Zechs smiled through several other pieces then stopped Heero. "Enough, your tea is getting cold. I'll give it a little warm up, shall I?"

Heero took a swab from the case, swabbed his instrument out and put it away. He accepted the tea and settled himself for a relaxing session of just sitting.

Finally Heero looked at his watch. "I've got to go. I'm supposed to be at a therapy session in ten minutes."

"Therapy?" Zechs gave Heero a sharp look. "I thought you were healed."

"I am but I have to go in one last time. 'She'll' sign off on me this time. The Iron Maid wants to make sure."

Zechs grinned at Heero in unabashed glee. "Well, shall I tell her . . . Help?"

Heero had given Zechs's braid a yank as he walked past. He left him examining the end for any supposed damage.

* * *

"Well. Mr. Winner-Yuy. Let me look at that leg." Miss O'Donnell looked at Heero's leg. Then she poked him here and there. "Looks good. How's it feel?"

"Good. Doesn't hurt. It's still a little weak, but I'm getting over that. Regular visits to the gym are helping. .  
. when can I go back to martial arts. I miss my workouts."

Miss O'Donnell sighed. "Who are you going to work out with? I don't know of anyone up to your levels."

Heero blinked at her for a moment, how did she know his levels. He decided to take Duo's advice and ask.  
"How do you know my levels?"

"I don't really. But to be who you are, they have to be fairly high. Right?"

"Yeah." Heero ducked his head, thinking about what she'd said. "Wufei is up to my levels. So's Trowa . . .  
Barton. Tall one?" Miss O'Donnell nodded. "Quatre isn't. He's very good, but not that good. Duo . . .  
maybe. He was when I went in, but I don't know if he's been keeping up or not." Heero straightened up,  
stretching out his back. "Zechs might be. I wonder if he'd like to work out with me."

"I don't know what his levels are but I want you to take it easy at first. I don't want you to undo all the healing." Miss O'Donnell unknowingly took her life in her hands as she cupped Heero's chin in her hand to make him look her in the eye. "Understand me, young man?"

Heero smirked at her a little. "Yes, ma'am. I understand. I'll be careful. Duo will have my hide if I hurt myself again. And I really don't want to hear Wufei rant about my suicidal tendencies . . . " Heero hopped off the table. "So . . . I'm cleared for light duties?"

Miss O'Donnell nodded absently then went back to completing her notes. "Go on. Take care." She looked up. "and I don't expect to see his Royal Highness in here either."

Heero nodded and left.

* * *

Zechs leaned against his terrace wall and waited for Heero to return. He didn't notice Mr. Fox until he spoke.

"Excuse me. You look like a cultured gentle man. I understand that there are two Gundam pilots here. Do you feel that someone like that should be in a facility like this? I mean I'm no one to talk. But . . . I'm not even sure what I mean. They've got that young man convinced that he's one of them. This isn't good. I realize that it's none of my business but he needs to realize that . . ." Mr. Fox trailed off.

Zechs just gave him a weary look. It was starting all over again. One of the reasons that Heero and he had been the only ones in this unit was that it was just more trouble than it was worth to try to have him in the same court with others, there was always trouble. Like this.

"My name is Zechs Merquise and I'm one of the Gundam pilots. Heero Yuy, I believe you referred to him as the young man, is the other. If you have a problem with us, I'd recommend that you take it up with the warden. And remember, we were here first."

Mr. Fox turned a rather alarming shade of red. "Oh, I see. That self effacing young person is really a Gundam pilot?" Zechs just nodded. "Well, now I really feel . . . ridiculous . . . I apologize. I don't understand . . . he's too young to be a soldier. What were they thinking?"

"Mostly about their own agenda. They didn't care about their, our, ages. All they cared about was whether we could do the job or not. Your kind of blindness just adds to the problem. We are what we are, get over it.  
If you can't be nice to Heero, at least don't be cruel. Just stay away. Please."

Mr. Fox eyed Zechs for a moment. "And what about you?"

"I'm used to it. I don't want him to have to get used to it."

The professor nodded. "I don't understand it at all. But if . . . well, I won't add to the problem. I really just want . . . I'm afraid; to be frank. I'm not . . ." he sighed. "I'm old, I'm a professor of music at a local junior college. And all I really did was trust the wrong person. I paid my taxes. But I paid them to the man who did my taxes and he didn't pass it on. So now I'm in trouble, he's disappeared and here I am."

Zechs nodded. "I see. Well . . . I followed orders, I was a good soldier. I tried to be a good commander. And Heero just did what he was trained to do. We all do what we think is right, or what we were trained to do . .  
." Zechs turned away then looked back over his shoulder. "If anyone bothers you, tell me. I'll deal with it. Have a nice day." He walked into his quarters with a sigh.

* * *

Heero took his time getting back to his quarters, he wanted to practice and he didn't. He couldn't decide which songs to work on and he had so many to choose from. He knew he wasn't going to be good right at first. He had been conditioned to expect punishment for failure, so he knew he was going to have some problems, but. . . He sighed, he was over thinking again. He could just hear Duo. 'Ro, don't think so much.  
Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and do it.

He decided to just open the book and learn the tune on the right-hand page.

He fiddled around with it for a while, just to prove that he could. Then he buckled down and learned it, in about five minutes.

He settled in for a long session. What else did he have to do? He'd finished all his homework and was comfortably ahead in his reading. So, practice. Which he realized he enjoyed.

"Hello! Earth to Yuy. Come in Yuy."

Heero looked up and grinned at Zechs. His quick glance at the clock told him that he'd been playing for over two hours. Which would explain the dryness of his mouth and throat.

"Stagger in. Fall down and tell me what's up." Heero motioned at the nearest chair.

"You're going to miss lunch in about twenty minutes. You can't live on that survival stuff forever, you know."

Heero shrugged, gave Zechs a mischievous look and replied. "Why not? I did for years."

"Yes, and it shows. You're a midget. Come on. Fresh food. Nice healthy veggies and . . . I'll admit. I want company. I never realized how much I despise eating alone until you came along."

Heero quickly cleaned his instrument and put it away.

"Ok. I'll admit that I'm hungry." He stopped to stretch and bend, working the kinks out of his back.

"Good. . . oh, if you don't mind. I'd like to join your sessions from time to time. If that's ok with you."

Heero glanced at Zechs, his hopeful look reassured Heero that he really meant it. "Sure. If you don't mind messing around with an amateur."

"You're very good. I wonder how . . . .O'Carolans . . . humm. I have some sheet music I think you should take a look at. Might be interesting for us to play."

"Ok. I'll look at it after lunch. You want to bring your . . . no, I'll bring my whistles to you. Easier to transport whistles than that monster of yours."

Zechs gave Heero a genteel smile. "Well, shanty. At least it's refined." He stuck his nose in the air.

Heero smirked at him. "Better shanty than lace certain."

Zechs snickered. "And what either a Japanese high bred or Sanq royalty really knows about sixteenth century Irish is beyond me."

"Humm, music's good though."

They entered the dining room laughing companionably.

The server came over and offered menus, took their orders and brought their food. He kept giving Heero tiny, scared glances.

"Looks like you've got him properly cowed." Zechs hid his amusement behind his water glass.

"You should never have put up with his shit. All it would have taken was one of your 'I'm in command'  
glares."

Zechs looked sad. "But I'm not in command anymore."

Heero made a disgusted face. "Yes, you are. You may not have control over where you are. But you've got control over what you are. Either you're a man; a prince, and an 'officer and a gentleman', or you're a prisoner. Decide."

Zechs murmured "iron bars do not a prison make." Then nodded. "You're right. I can't give up. I've lived for others most of my life. It's hard to live for myself. But . . ."

Heero nodded. "See. All it takes is a spark."

"You've lit a conflagration."

Heero smiled and turned to his food.

* * *

"Trowa. I feel like playing. Join me?"

Trowa smiled happily. He had missed their musical sessions. "Sure. Get my flute and be there in a minute."

"Don't bother. I have a present for you." Quatre gave Trowa one of his most dazzling smiles.

"Ok. But . . . Quatre Raberba Winner, you did not!"

"Did! And don't middle name me."

Quatre ran into the music room and placed the case in Trowa's out stretched hands.

Trowa opened the case and indeed there on the black velvet lining was the coveted flute. He'd been looking at it for months. Now, here it was. He wished rather vaguely that Quatre wouldn't buy him things like that.  
Then he shrugged, said thank you, and took out the flute.

He put it together with an air of satisfaction that pleased Quatre no end.

Quatre retrieved his violin from the storage cabinet and began to tune it carefully. He put the electronic tuner on the table. The thimble sized electronic gadget blinked serenely, waiting for him to put bow to string. When Quatre drew the bow over the string, it continued to blink green. He tested each string and found them all to be in perfect tune.

Trowa came over to him and put his new flute to his lips. He blew gently. The tuner continued to blink green. The flute was in perfect tune as well.

"This is so nice. Thank you, meli."

"You're welcome. Your old instrument was getting a little too worn." Quatre rubbed the hand on his shoulder with his chin.

Trowa put the flute to his lips and played a scale. Quatre echoed with his violin.

They played for a while, until Wufei came into the room.

"Do you mind if I listen?" Wufei sat on the floor without waiting for an answer. He'd only asked to be polite, he knew they wouldn't mind.

Duo was right behind him. "Hey. I'll sit in if you don't mind."

"Sit in? What do you play?"

"Keyboard. See?"

Duo pulled an electronic key board out of his pocket, unrolled it and layed it on the table.  
"Wow. Duo, that's a nice keyboard. Micro processors are great things."

Duo regarded the instrument fondly. It was one of the best on the market. G had given it to him after he'd played the Minute Waltz in a minute. It consisted of a pressure sensitive strip, the key board; and a processor/speaker module. Unroll the board, turn on the processor, and you had a fine keyboard all ready to play. All you had to have was a table or other flat surface large enough to accommodate its length.

He played a few scales then settled in to play along with Quatre and Trowa. Wufei got up and went to the cupboard.

"I'll join in as well, if you don't mind." He removed the shakuhachi from its drawer and held it up. The Chinese flute was made from bamboo and polished to a high gloss.

Quatre smiled in delight. "Wufei, I didn't know you played an instrument."

"Yes. I was taught. I enjoyed it very much, but . . . it wasn't something I felt a warrior should do. I haven't played since the day Merian died. "

Trowa reached out and squeezed Wufei's shoulder, Duo slipped up behind him and put an arm around him.  
Quatre smiled a little less happily. "I'm so sorry. Perhaps . . ."

Wufei interrupted him. "Maxwell, you want to lose your head?" Duo snorted softly. "Thanks, guys. I'm all right. I want to play. Someone name a tune I know."

So they spent a few minutes naming off tunes until they had a list that they all knew.

Then the fun began. Wufei found that the versions of most of the tunes that they knew didn't match. Duo knew the bare bones melodies of all of them and ornamented as he saw fit. Trowa was about the same. But Quatre knew different versions, written for the violin and ornamented in a rather strict and formulaic style. Wufei knew bare bones tunes and ornamentations and had been trained to combine them on the fly.

Duo caught on right away and Trowa wasn't far behind him, they both understood music theory almost instinctively. Quatre had trouble. He'd been trained in a strict old style school. You had sheet music and followed it. "Real" musicians didn't interpret the music, they let it interpret them. Duo snorted, Trowa smiled slightly and Wufei just threw up his hands.

"Quatre, anyone who makes music is a real musician. It doesn't matter in the least whether you read 'dots,  
learn by ear, or just make it up as you go along. Relax. Just listen to us and jump in when you feel comfortable. If you have trouble with embellishments or ornamentation as some call it, just play the melody. And don't worry about making mistakes. We'll all probably blow the whole thing. This isn't a performance or anything. Just us having fun."

He looked at Duo and Trowa. The both nodded back, so he put his flute to his lips and Trowa copied him. Duo tapped the beat with his foot and they started. Quatre joined in after the second tune, so they started again. And stopped. And started. And messed up. They laughed, swore, pointed out differences in melody, timing and pace. And wound up having the best time they'd had in a long time.

Finally Quatre called a halt when he heard Duo's stomach growl. "Oh, Duo why didn't you say you were getting hungry."

"Huh? Me? Not me. I forgot all about it. I . . . well, now you mention it, I am a little hungry."

Another growl made Trowa snicker. Wufei's face turned pink.

"I think that was me. Trowa, we better clean our flutes before we put them away. All that giggling . . ."

Trowa turned his nose up. "I don't giggle. Or spit in my instrument."

Wufei rapped him sharply on the top of the head with his bamboo shakuhatchi. "Sure you don't."

Trowa rubbed his abused head with one hand and snatched Wufei's instrument with the other. "Ow! Give me that. That's no way to treat it." Wufei snickered but let Trowa have it.

"You want it, fine, just means you have to clean it." Wufei grinned at Trowa's dirty look, but Trowa turned to the cabinet and got out the swabs. Wufei left him to his task and went to look at Duo's keyboard.

"When did you get that?"

Duo shrugged. "I've had it for a while. G gave it to me. He said everyone should play something. I just turned out to be a keyboardist?"

"Not real handy to carry around. Or play. I don't remember ever seeing you play it."

Duo shook his head. "Don't think you ever did. If I wanted to play I usually hid in 'Scythe. Heero heard me play once and I thought he'd go ballistic. He don't like music, I think. But I've always wanted to play a real piano."

Quatre, who'd been listening in while he wiped off his violin, interjected, "But Duo, if you want to play a real piano, why don't you just play the grand piano over there?"

"Because it's not mine. That's a very expensive instrument. You think I'm uncouth enough to help myself to it?" Duo looked slightly indignant.

"No. But . . . I never thought about it. I never knew you played anything . . ." Quatre tried to figure out how to say what he wanted without insulting Duo.

"Quat. Just spit it out. I won't be pissed."

"I told you long ago, anything I have you're all welcome to. Except Trowa or my violin. You want to play the piano, help yourself . . ." He cased his violin and turned to Trowa to hand it to him. Trowa took it and picked up the two flutes. "Thank you, Trowa . . . now everyone come on. I'm starving."

They wound up arguing music through lunch.

Duo held up Wufei's argument that anyone who made music, no matter how good or bad, was a musician. Quatre argued that reading music and some level of skill was necessary to be a musician. Trowa played ping-pong, looking from Duo to Quatre and back to Wufei.

* * *

Relena turned off the radio and sighed. She wished she could play an instrument well. She played the obligatory piano, but was at best an uninspired plinker. She could play at a socially acceptable level but didn't play from memory and couldn't find herself really interested in anything she knew.

She looked up at a knock on the door. "Enter"

Dorothy stuck her head around the edge of the door. "The car is here. You should wear a sweater. Those places are invariably cold."

Relena shuddered, picked up a light sweater from the foot stool and left the room headed for the car.

She spent most of the drive worrying.

"Doro. What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he turns me away? I really didn't know what that nasty man was doing. Did you? If you did, why didn't you tell me? What am I going to do?."

Dorothy reached over and patted her on the hand. "Miss Relena, stop that, do. You'll make yourself sick. If he doesn't want to see you, you send our compliments and apologies for bothering him when he's busy. I didn't know for sure what he was doing. I had an idea but I couldn't really prove anything. You'll do what you always do. You'll make it work somehow. Just stop your fussing until we have an idea of what will happen. Perhaps he'll be glad to see you. Or perhaps he'll make you work for it. Either way . . . well, don't worry until it's time." Dorothy poured Relena some tea from a thermos she'd brought along. "Have some tea and stop fratching yourself. You'll feel better after tea."

Relena accepted the cup, sipped and tried to quit worrying. But she felt so bad, she just knew that Milliardo wouldn't forgive her. He was well known for bearing grudges, revenge was almost his byword. Oh, dear.

When they finally arrived at the facility, which to Relena looked like a middle priced hotel she was resigned to the thought that her brother would send her away again. She wanted to love him, he was her only remaining family. She wanted him to love her. She so rarely got what she wanted.

"Ma'am!" The door guard snapped to attention, gulped and realized that he had no idea what to do next.

Relena smiled at him and returned his salute. "Could you please see if my brother will see me?"

"Brother? Ma'am?" The poor man looked like he was going to choke. "Your brother works here? I . . . don't believe I know him."

Relena sighed. "My brother is incarcerated here. Mill . . . oh, he doesn't use that name. Zechs Merquise.  
Please see if he'll see me."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll have someone come to escort you right away."

Relena stopped the man and repeated herself again, adding that she wasn't sure if he'd see her or not and she didn't want to disturb him if he was busy. The guard finally got it through his head that Zechs might not be happy about seeing his sister.

His reply brought joy to Relena's heart and some pain as well. "I don't know why he wouldn't want to see you. Every time he asked to see you and you refused he tore his quarters to bits . . . at first. I guess he got tired of cleaning up the mess. He just sulks now."

"Sulks? My brother would never sulk."

"Ok, pouts then . . . Ha! Got him, hang on a sec." He spoke into the stand mic on his desk and winced slightly. "He'll be right here. You'll have to meet him in the guest room this time. Next time you can go to his quarters if you want."

The sound of heels rapping sharply on the hall floor gave Relena pause. She saw her brother striding towards her and all she could do was watch, big eyed and cringing.

When Zechs reached her, he stopped and just waited. She dithered for all of two seconds, then with a tiny sob, she threw herself on Milliardo's broad chest and mercy.

"Hush. It's ok. I got a report from Doro. I'll take up my grievances with the 'nasty little toad-man'." Zechs rocked her gently for a moment. "Come . . . dry your eyes. We'll go to the visitors' chambers and you can tell me all about it. Then you can ask me any question you like. I may not answer all of them, but I won't lie to you. Ok?"

Relena sniffled and searched her purse for a hankie. Not finding one, she patted her pockets. Zechs smiled slightly and handed her his handkerchief. "Here, use this. Wipe then blow, other way round is just nasty. As Duo would . . . did say." He led the way to the visitors' chamber and settled Relena in a comfortable chair.

"Tea?" Zechs didn't wait for an answer, he needed tea. He'd rather have a nice stiff drink but in deference to his sisters sensibilities he'd settle for tea.

Relena nodded her thanks, even though she'd already had more tea than was really good for her. She wouldn't turn him down for anything.

"Thank you, Milliardo. It's . . ."

She noticed his wince and stopped speaking. He felt it necessary to explain himself.

"I don't use the name Milliardo Peacecraft anymore. I had it legally changed when I was sentenced."

"Oh. And why wasn't I informed of this?" Relena felt a little put out. She didn't know half what she ought.

"I informed you. I sent you copies of the legal papers, which contained an explanation of why I felt it necessary to change my name."

Relena sighed, pulled out her phone, and made a call to her office.

"I see. Well, it's my fault again. Zechs, then."

Zechs bowed slightly. "Please, continue."

"I . . . I have no excuse for my actions. I was angry and said some truly unforgivable things. Then . . . I did mean it for the best. I told that nasty little toad-man to make sure that he got every message from you. I did not mean for him to keep them from me or to do most of the things he did. I meant for him to make sure I got every message you sent. But . . . then I got . . . involved . . . but that's no excuse . . . some of those letters of apology were . . . painful is not the word I want. . . . I . . . oh, Mill . . . Zechs . . I don't know what I'm trying to say."

Zechs watched Relena struggle and all he could do was realize that she was so very young. She was trying her best, he could see that. And one of the reasons he'd changed his name was to separate them in the public eye.

He did what any loving brother would do, he forgave her. It was so obviously distressing to her that he knew she hadn't meant for, he couldn't help a slight chuckle, that nasty toad-man to intercept his letters and gifts.

"Relena, my dear. Does the 'nasty little toad-man' mean Mr. Webster?"

"Yes, that obsequious, slimy little sneaky worm." Relena set her tea cup down with a decided snap. "I sent you presents that he intercepted, so I thought you didn't want anything to do with me. And I found all sorts of things that he never gave to me. I . . . ." Relena got a thought full look on her face.

Zechs watched with amusement as she put on what he thought of as her 'Princess face' "What is going on in that head of yours, I wonder."

Relena settled deeper in her chair. "He intercepted my email to you and yours to me. He also intercepted regular mail. Without my written authorization. Some of the things were rather expensive. Oh, that reminds me. Doro has a present I sent to you that that . . ."

Zechs held up a hand. "Please spare me. Just tell me . . ."

Relena pouted slightly. "Well he is. But as I was saying . . . I sent you something for your birthday, but we found it in his drawer labeled 'not appropriate.' I'll give it to you in a while. Doro said she wanted to check on another . . . er . . . inmate? Resident? What do you call yourself here?"

Zechs sighed. "I prefer inmate, but the staff always refers to us as clients. I . . it's ridiculous."

"OH," Relena sighed again.

"Will you stop that? I'm not angry at you. Not since you explained what happened. I got Heero to do some digging. They think they can keep him off line. They are, as usual, wrong. He . . . you will not cause him any trouble, you hear?"

Relena just nodded, big eyed. Zechs continued to explain that Heero had traced a few of his emails and found that they had been intercepted, done a little more digging and realized that Relena had been requesting scans for lost emails for months. They'd drawn conclusions of their own.

"I don't want to cause Heero any trouble. In fact, I wish I could see him. You see," Relena looked down at her clasped hands. "I had the most horrible crush on him. I caused him no end of problems, following him around and outgrew it during the trials. I realize that we'd never make it. Even if he wasn't homosexual. I'm too idealistic and he's too pragmatic. But I'd like to be his friend. I like to think of myself as such."

Zechs smiled at her. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear that. He's in need of as many friends as he can get."

"I'm visiting the facility he's in soon. And . . ." Relena trailed off as Zechs pointed.

"They moved me. I got hurt . . . umpf" Heero grunted as Relena hugged him, hard.

"Oh, Heero, I'm so glad to see you. I'm doing the best I can, but it's so hard. I'm fighting on several fronts at once. They want to disempower me. Some of the legislators resent my power. They say I'm too young to know what's best. I say they're so old, they're set in their ways. And so I can't help you like I want. I can't help Milliardo, nepotism is such an ugly word, although half the congress seems to indulge in it, one way or another. And so I'm so sorry I had to turn it all over to Quatre and stay sub rosa. But I do have influence that I can use. And I will, when the time is right. And I'm babbling, aren't I."

Heero returned the hug, then smirked. "You sound like Duo on a rip. But that's ok. I'm glad to see you too."

Relena gave Heero a slightly blank look. Then blushed heavily. She remembered some of the silly things she'd done in her pursuit of Heero and sat down abruptly.

Heero shook his head. "Don't do that. It was nice. I . . . had trouble . . . expressing . . . I'm still so not good at this."

Relena had to giggle. "I'm sorry, but you sound just like Maxwell. It's all right. I understand. Please, won't you join us?"

Heero glanced at Zechs and, catching the pleading look in his eyes, agreed to stay. "For a while. Then I have to leave. Homework won't do itself."

So he stayed, buffering Zechs and Relena, interjecting questions when the conversation seemed to lag. I do to have people skills. It's just like an interrogation, keep the words flowing. Ask easy questions and wait.

Relena told Zechs everything she'd done for the Gundam pilots. "I did it all with all of you in mind. You to,  
brother. I swear if it wasn't for that nasty little toad-man." Heero pricked up his ears. "I wanted to apologize ten minutes after we parted. I was just . . . so immature . . . and foolish. I'm so sorry. Please . . ."

Zechs took her hand in his and kissed it gently. "Stop. I did many foolish things myself. I forgive you if you forgive me. Ok?"

Relena smiled at him so happily that whatever small ill feeling was left faded easily.

Heero got up from where he'd been sitting and offered tea. Zechs held up a hand palm out in a 'no thank you' gesture. Relena sighed. "Oh, I couldn't. My kidneys are floating now. I . . . er . . ." she reddened.

Heero just pointed, she hopped up and scurried into the ladies room.

"You think?"

Zechs relaxed, stretching out his long legs and sighing. "Yeah, I do. I'd really like to know more about Mr. Nasty Little Toad-man Webster."

Heero shrugged. "Me too. I'll see what I can come up with after she leaves."

Relena emerged from the door just then and the conversation turned general. Relena filled them in on what she was going to be doing for the next few days. Heero listened with half an ear. Zechs told Relena about their trips to the mall and Heero's whistle and the harp he'd bought.

Heero noticed Relena flexing her feet with a small crease between her eyebrows. He sat down on the floor without comment and slipped her shoes off.

"What? Heero don't do that. My feet are dirty."

"No they're not. Why do you insist on wearing shoes that are too tight? It's ridiculous."

"They match my outfit and I haven't broken them in completely yet. Stop."

Heero just firmly plunked her feet in his lap. "Your feet are clean. If your feet are the dirtiest things I'll ever have to handle I'll be . . ." He grinned at Zechs, who just covered his eyes with one hand and muttered.  
"Don't even. Not in front of my sister."

Relena relaxed, Heero gently rubbed the marks off her feet, but Zechs took the shoes and flexed them carefully until they loosened up.

"That ought to take care of that. You ought to have them sent out to be stretched a little. It takes away from the wear, but you do too much standing and walking not to do it."

"I know. I'll have Doro take care of it today . . . speaking of her. Where is she?"

Heero shrugged. "You two say your good-byes and I'll go find her. It's almost lunch time. You have an appointment in . . ."

Just then the door opened and Dorothy came in to get Relena. "Re' we have to go . . . now. Or we'll be late.  
It's a sit down luncheon so we have to be on time."

Relena said good-by to Heero then turned to Zechs. "Mill . . . Zechs. I'll get used to it. I swear. I have to go.  
But I'll come back. And anything you send to me comes to my desk or Doro's so . . . oh. I forgot. Doro' do you have it?"

Dorothy handed Relena a long narrow box and smiled as Relena removed the watch from it.

"Here, I sent this to you for your birthday only that . . ."

"Nasty Little Toad-man" everyone chorused along with her. "Alright. I wore that one out. Sorry. But anyway, here. Let me put it on for you. I'll just . . ." Relena reached out and took Zechs by the left hand.  
"take . . . this . . . oh, my. That . . ." Relena let out a little shriek of sheer fury.

Zechs tried to pull his hand away but Relena held on tenaciously.

"Relena, it's fine. They just don't want me taking off. I could you know. If I really wanted to. At least,  
without the tracker I could."

"I don't like it. I want it OFF! NOW!"

Heero smirked at Zechs. He patted Relena on the shoulder. "Calm down. It's off. Or it will be soon."

"How are you going to get it off?"

Heero smirked even more. "You know Duo will kick my ass if anyone else does it. He wants to so bad.  
Ok?"

Relena looked between Heero and Zechs. "It's ok with me. Zechs?"

Zechs grinned. He'd been examining the watch. "I like the watch. You'll get papers, probably after the luncheon. Hug me and get going Doro is getting ready to spaz."

Relena obediently hugged, issued orders to the warden, who was hovering in the hall and left, Dorothy trailing after.

* * *

A quick call to Duo brought him to the facility, along with Wufei. They explained that Quatre and Trowa had to go to L5.

Duo examined the bracelet carefully. Then he asked for the plans, which the warden handed over without complaint.

Duo examined the plans and sighed. "Well, at least you're not booby trapped. I really don't like my chances of escaping the Pink Panic if I blow off your hand."

"Do not call my sister a Pink Panic. It's. . . "

"Disrespectful." Wufei finished. "but we got in the habit of calling her that because she drew way too much attention to us. See pink, panic. But . . . Duo . . . make nice. Ok?'

Duo concentrating on plans just nodded and muttered. "Yurp. No prob."

It took him a few moments of work to bridge the circuits with a piece of wire. Then he picked the lock imbedded in the bracelet. It took him a while and some fervent curses, but he did it.

"There." Duo tossed the revolting thing into the nearest trash and picked up the watch. He ceremoniously handed it to Wufei, who gently strapped it on for Zechs.

"Thank you, Ming Long." Zechs examined his wrist, free of the despised fetter at last.

"You are very welcome, Bihai."

Duo just grinned.

* * *

Heero leaned into Duo so he could hear the conversation from both sides.

"Hey Q. You get the mail I sent?"

Quatre's disembodied voice replied in the affirmative.

Then Quatre made a call. "Hello, Miss Carson. I heard something really distressing."

Miss Carson was one of the worst gossips in ESUN and as personal secretary to the head of the second largest corporation in ESUN she had a lot of people to gossip with.

"Oh, Mr. Winner do tell."

"Yes, it seems that one of Miss Relena's aids has really put his foot in it. He intercepted mail from Zechs.  
Kept it from her. Such a shame. Here we've been blaming her for being cold to him and this little weasel was playing power games. Besides committing half a dozen felonies. So . . ."

"Oh please . . . don't tell me he's back on the market."

"Yes, Relena isn't going to press charges. Doesn't want the exposure. But . . . I just know some unsuspecting person will hire him. Such a shame. You know?"

"Oh, I know. Oh, excuse me. I have an incoming call. . . . Hello, Sherry. You'll never believe . . ."

* * *

Notes:

Ming Long - Bright Dragon

Bihai - Jade sea. (For his blue-green eyes)

Fratching yourself is an old fashioned expression meaning, to worry oneself until ill.

Well, here it is. Nano not with standing. Yay, me. .Tired now.


	21. Temper

The Price 21

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Heero watched as Zechs sighed, rubbed his wrist again and with his usual old world courtesy offered tea. Wufei accepted and sat on the couch.

"Why don't we sit and visit for a while? Duo, why don't you and Heero go to his quarters for a private visit."

Duo jumped on the idea happily. Heero nodded hesitantly, he was still watching Zechs. He didn't like the set of his shoulders nor the tension in his face.

Zechs just gritted his teeth. "Heero, Duo would like time with you and I'm sure you would like time with him and Wufei. Please."

Duo blinked, Wufei stiffened and Heero sighed. "Zechs whatever you have in mind, don't."

Wufei started for Zechs but he held out a hand. "Don't touch me. Leave me alone. I . . . can't . . . just GO!"

Duo took Heero by the hand and pulled the reluctant man out the door, whispering, "Leave him to Wufei. We should be least in sight for a while. We'll keep an ear out in case it gets really rough. Might have to do something about the staff too. Come on."

So Heero went with Duo and met several members of the staff right outside the door. They didn't take long convincing them to go away. All they had to do was assure them that Zechs wasn't leaving the facility and that they would take care of any 'untoward activities' as one man put it.

The unhappy expressions on their faces told both Duo and Heero that they really didn't want trouble. So they left the pilots to their own devices.

Heero leaned against the wall and tugged Duo into his arms. They didn't need to do more than listen. So they occupied themselves with a short necking session. Duo hummed happily.

Wufei didn't leave as Zechs requested instead he stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around him. "You'll not get yourself into trouble while I'm here. Come. Sit with me."

Zechs jerked out of Wufei's arms despite the hold he had. He pulled away so abruptly that Wufei didn't have a chance to let go of his shirt so it tore with a harsh sound.

"Zechs, I'm sorry. "

"Damn the shirt, I don't care about it. Wufei . . . leave, I'm not safe. I can't do this. I'm tired of being calm, avoiding trouble. I want to rip and tear, I want to fight . . . just get away from me before I hurt you."

Wufei snorted. "You really think you could? I'd like to see you. Come . . . bring it on. . . . I'll fight you."

Zechs shoved Wufei away and Wufei came right back. Zechs took a swing at him and he punched Zechs in the shoulder.

They wound up fighting like two cats in a sack. Wufei lured Zechs into the larger living room and they proceeded to wreck the room. For every punch, kick or throw Zechs came up with Wufei had a counter. Some of them worked some didn't. Zechs had longer limbs and more strength, Wufei knew more moves and was a lot quicker. He also wasn't in a blind funk.

Finally Zechs dropped to his knees, exhausted. He panted for a few moments then looked around. He saw Wufei flat on his back on the floor a few feet away.

He whimpered softly and scrambled on hands and knees to carefully pick Wufei up. He settled him gently against his chest.

"Ming Long. Please, wake up."

Wufei groaned softly, straightened up and rubbed his jaw. "Ow! You've got a fist like Yuy's."

Zechs sighed his relief and settled back to caress his own jaw with bloodied knuckles. "Yeah? Well, yours is no pillow."

Wufei pushed away from Zechs gently and settled back on his heels. He gingerly fingered his split lip and bloody nose. Zechs explored his own aching cheekbone and swelling eye.

"Feel better?"

"I guess." Zechs looked around the room and groaned. "We made a real mess. I don't think I've ever made such a mess alone."

Wufei tried to smile and winced instead. "Mingzhen, we'll just have to clean it up together. Maybe if we make puppy dog eyes Yuy and Maxwell will help us."

"You think?"

"Maybe, if we look pitiful enough."

Zechs limped to his feet, hissing softly as muscles pulled and protested. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Wufei accepted the helping hand and stood up with a groan. "I'm ok. I'll be stiff soon, so we better get to cleaning up this mess . . . umm . . . we broke the desk?"

Zechs looked where Wufei was looking and nodded. "I think you slammed me down on it."

"Oh . . . and the wall? I think that was me. The dent is too low to be _your_ head."

They both groaned again as they realized that between them they'd pretty much trashed the place. Zechs anted the groan and raised it a sigh. "I'm in deep shit. Last time I made such a mess it took me three days to clean it all up. And no bed to sleep in, as I wrecked the bedroom."

A voice from the door made them both jump and turn quickly.

"Well, I see you've managed to work out a bunch of hostility. I want you both in the training room at once. Wufei, I'll be sending in the Iron Maiden. Unless you want Mr. Merquise on report, you'll do as she says."

Dr. Terry was standing in the doorway with one shoulder against the frame, arms crossed over his chest, the off side ankle crossed over the weight bearing one. He looked around the room and shook his head.

"It's to be expected, I assure you. I was wondering if you had any outlet for your passions. Noin . . . didn't seem to be much in the way of . . . well. . . I can see by your face that she's not on the discussion list any time soon. Never mind for now. Go to the gym."

Heero and Duo, standing behind the doctor relaxed and went to Heero's room to continue the session that Zechs andWufei's battle had interrupted.

Miss O'Donnell met them in the locker room and directed them both into the fitness or examination room. She didn't give them a chance to protest, just ordered them to 'get naked' and turned to the cabinets to rummage while they stripped.

She turned around to glare at them both, throw towels at them and order them onto tables.

They both climbed onto the tables, giving each other shamefaced looks.

Miss O'Donnell dumped an armful of supplies onto a table then rolled it over between the examination tables. She examined Wufei first, over his protests, and declared that all he needed was an ice pack, a butterfly, and some sense.

Her examination of Zechs was just as perfunctory. And her remarks just as caustic. "Now, I want you both in bed, preferably in the same room. I'll . . . hello, Heero. You going to take care of these two idiots?"

Heero walked in with a short nod and one of his trademark grunts. "Hn. I'll put them in my bedroom for tonight. Zechs tore the hell out of his quarters. Rather I should say they did. Wufei, Duo has permission to stay here for tonight as well. We'll see to it that they don't suffer any unpleasant effects of this . . . expression of temper."

Zechs felt his jaw drop. Wufei smirked as best he could with a split lip.

Duo popped his head in the door. "I talked to the warden, Relena called. She said that, and I quote, 'I hope you will make allowances for my poor brother. He's had quite a trying life.' I nearly spilled my guts, he's 'reconsidering' some of his orders pertaining to Zechs." He cheerfully snickered and left.

Heero watched him leave with cautious eyes. Duo had 'that' look in his eyes.

"Hi. You know you're a real pain in the ass? And I really, really don't like you."

Mr. Webster woke up to a sharp poke in the belly, and realized that a rather beautiful, bright eyed young boy was crouched in his bed.

"Who are you? And what do you want? I don't keep money in the apartment. . . aside from a few coins for the . . . " he stopped talking when the boy started shaking his head with a mournful look on his face.

"You made Shinigami angry. You messed with one of his friends. Actually you messed with three of them. Not good. Now you'll suffer."

Mr. Webster shuddered. Miss Relena had taken his hide off in strips. He knew that Mr. Winner had black balled him and he was going to be looking for a job for a long time. All he could think was 'now what' he knew this was not good.

Duo knelt on the bed and moved up the man's body a little. He gently took one of Mr. Webster's hands in his.

"What. . . what are you doing. I don't . . ." the sharp crack of a breaking finger sounded loud in the silence of the bedroom. Mr. Webster screamed.

"There you nasty little toad man. I'll be back in a few days. Wonder what I'll feel like breaking next time." Duo tossed his braid over his shoulder, hopped off the bed, then turned to look over his shoulder at the shaking man. "Oh, don't try to keep me out. You can't. And don't bother moving. It won't work either." He smirked evilly at Mr. Webster and sauntered out the door braid swinging jauntily.

Duo was careful to make sure that all the security systems of the building were back on line before he left.

He snickered softly. That would also make it impossible for the EMT's to get in quickly. A high security building was one thing but this mess was another entirely. Its systems were messed up completely. It was easy to hack into the systems and open any door in the building, but the swipe card code for the emergency responders was outdated. He watched from the shadows as the EMT's swiped their card, then swore as the doors refused to open. They finally had to buzz the manager and get him to open up from his rooms.

Duo walked into the night, headed back to Heero and bed.

Zechs rolled over in the bed to look at a still sleeping Wufei. Zechs was lying on a cot while Wufei was in Heero's bed. Heero was in the living room on the couch.

Zechs got up and wandered into the living room. "Heero. I need another dose. Is there anything?"

Heero looked up from the music book he was studying. "Sure. Sit down on the couch and I'll get you something. Miss O'Donnell gave me some pills for both of you."

Zechs sat and waited, he still felt dazed. Things were changing rather too fast for him. He wondered how much mess he was going to have to face alone. Wufei was going to be so stiff tomorrow, he shifted uncomfortably, so was he. He'd have to start early or he was going to put Heero out again.

"Pill. Take it don't look at it." Heero's hand appeared in his line of vision.

"OH . . . thanks . . . where's Duo? I thought he was going to stay here tonight."

Heero smirked at Zechs. "He. . . Shinigami had something to do. He'll be back in a little while."

Zechs felt a sudden chill and shuddered. He sometimes forgot that even the gentle Quatre was as ruthless as he was. He wondered what Duo was up to, then decided he didn't want to know. If he didn't know, he didn't have to lie.

Duo slipped in from the terrace just as he was swallowing the pill. Naturally he choked on it and had to be slapped on the back by Heero.

Duo eyed Zechs for a second then just plopped down on the couch. "I'm bushed 'Ro. We gonna sleep in here on the floor, or what?"

Heero just motioned Zechs off the couch, pulled it out into a bed, and started undressing. Zechs returned to his cot and settled down to try to sleep. A voice out of the dark made him flinch.

"You really going to try to sleep on that rack? . . ." Wufei lifted the covers and just waited for a few moments. "Zechs, get the fuck in the damn bed. We're both going to be stiff enough in the morning as it is. You'll freeze solid if you try to sleep on that thing. Come on."

Zechs tried to resist the temptation, for all of two seconds. He knew they weren't going to do anything more than sleep, but the need to just touch Wufei was driving him crazy. I'm too old for him. I don't deserve him. God, how I want him.

Wufei didn't even try to snuggle with Zechs, the man was way too jumpy for that. Wufei settled on his side of the bed and firmly told himself to go to sleep. Finally he did.

Heero woke up first the next morning and sighed happily. This was the first time he'd awakened with Duo in his arms in he couldn't remember how long. He started to repress tears, then decided he didn't need to. He let them flow.

Duo felt something wet on his forehead. He turned his head slightly and saw that Heero had tears in his eyes, one of which had dropped onto him.

"Hey, 'Ro. What's wrong? What hurts?" He started to get up, but Heero gently held him in place.

"I'm ok. Nothing hurts, except that I haven't had you right here every morning. I miss you so much, sometimes it makes me sick to my stomach. Just lay here for a while, ok?"

Duo snuggled back down. "Ok. Feels good. You . . . scared me. I miss you too. But Zechs, he . . . he's good for us all. You know? I like him. He'll make sure Relena . . . she's something, you know."

Heero laughed, sometimes Duo didn't make sense. He realized that it was because Duo thought so much faster than he could talk that he jumped from one thought to another, leaving out giant parts of his thoughts. He was fairly good at translating, so he was pretty sure what Duo was talking about.

"Yeah, go back to sleep, you don't make sense. But Zechs is a good friend, so we need to take care of him. And Relena has something up her pink sleeve or I miss my guess. Especially now that she knows that Zechs was cut off from her . . . instead of rejecting her. I'd like to get my hands on that toad-man for two seconds."

Duo yawned, "Huumm. Only took me one. Sleep now." And started snoring softly. Heero craned his neck to look down at Duo for a second then shrugged, jostling Duo, who snorted then went back to snoring. He'd ask Duo exactly what was up when he was awake enough to answer coherently.

He was awakened again by someone tapping on his terrace door. The tapping was hesitant and light. Heero sat up groggily and wondered if Duo was in the bathroom then saw him opening the sliding glass door.

"Hi. Good morning. Who the hell are you and what do you want?" Duo's cheerful voice belied his words.

"Hello. I'm Mr. Fox. Who are you? And watch your mouth. You're much too young to use such crudities."

Duo snickered. "I'm Duo. Friend of Heero's and Zechs. And I'm two days older than dirt. Come in. I'll beat the coffee maker into submission in a minute."

Duo wandered into the bathroom leaving Heero to deal with Mr. Fox for the moment. Heero just got up and started making coffee.

"Is he . . ." Mr. Fox's eyes rounded in astonishment as he realized exactly who Duo was. "Are you all so young?"

Heero eyed the coffee maker with a jaundiced eye, realized that it was too small to make enough coffee for them all and got out his big chemex. As he folded the filter, Mr. Fox patiently waited for his answer.

"Yeah. We're all about the same age. We never had tests, except me. But Quatre knows how old he is and that's seventeen. He's offered to have tests done to make sure how old we really are, but who really cares? I don't, neither does Duo. Wufei knows and Trowa's pretty sure. So . . . yeah, we're all so young."

"Except me. I'm twenty. Morning. Wufei is making alarming noises. Does he have nightmares?"

Heero snarled and headed for the bedroom. Wufei did have nightmares, bad ones. Not frequently, but when he did he tended to get violent.

Mr. Fox eyed the boiling water, chemex setup and sighed softly.

"I'll make coffee. Duo will be out in a minute and he'll be unbearable without it. You?"

"I'm not so much hostile as cranky. If all I have to do is pour the water into the top of this. I'm ok. Perhaps you should see to your friend?"

Zechs thought for all of two seconds, until a shout from the bedroom brought Duo running. "Fei?" Zechs nodded and crossed the room with quick strides Duo right behind him.

In the bedroom Wufei was sitting up in bed, wild eyed, with Heero behind him holding onto his crossed arms. Wufei was pulling hard and Heero was having trouble holding him without hurting him.

Zechs climbed onto the bed and pinned Wufei's thrashing legs down by laying across them. Duo followed him and between the three of them they finally managed to immobilize Wufei.

"What now. Tiger by the tail and all that."

Duo patted Wufei's face gently. "Hey pal. Open your eyes. It's me. Wakie-wakie. Come on." Wufei shuddered thrashed once more and stilled. He collapsed so bonelessly that Zechs was startled.

Heero let go and motioned for Duo. "He's awake. Come on." Duo just nodded, patted Wufei on the shoulder, muttering something into his ear and scrambled after Heero.

"Coffee? You got coffee, don't you? That guy. Fox was it? Who's he? Fei's gonna be so pissed. He hates it when he does that. "

Heero grinned, grabbed Duo and kissed him until he whimpered.

"Gentlemen. A-hem. I don't want to be a wet blanket, but is your friend ok? Do you need me to call someone? And . . . coffee?"

Mr. Fox held up the pot and started pouring cups. Duo grabbed one and sipped happily.

"Sorry about that. I don't get to see Heero as much as I'd like. Coffee's good. And Chang Wufei will be fine in a few. He just needs to wake up. Umm. Heero? Is there tea fixin's. I'll make him some."

Heero was already rummaging in his cupboards for that box of special tea he'd picked up.

"I got some of that sleeping something he likes. Has linden, and cat mint, and hops in it. And valerian . . . I think it had lavender and . . . " Heero mumbled off as he nearly disappeared into the pantry looking for the box of tea. Duo just grinned at Mr Fox and refilled the kettle.

Heero dropped the tea bags into a small pot and set it on a tray. Then he poured himself some coffee. He was getting used to it and drank it now to be sociable.

Zechs stuck his head out the door and motioned to Duo. They conversed in the doorway for a moment, then Duo nodded.

"'Ro, Zechs wants to know if we'll help him clean up his rooms."

Heero shrugged. "If you want. I want to go to the mall and . . . shop." Heero tugged a lock of Duo's bangs "Don't look at me like that. I like shopping. I knew you'd do that. Stop it."

Duo spluttered into his coffee cup and finally gave up trying to drink it. He couldn't stop chuckling. Heero just gave him a mock offended look and turned to pour the now boiling water into the pot.

"Two cups, I think. Sugar?" Duo shrugged, so Heero put the sugar bowl on the tray along with some slices of lemon. Duo went to open the door for Heero, who just walked into the room with the tray.

Zechs took the tray with thanks and carried it to the bed. Wufei was sitting up, propped up on pillows. He looked so young and tired that Zechs wanted to wrap him in cotton wool and stuff him in a box. He knew Wufei would be highly insulted at the very idea, so he put the tray on the bedside table and settled on the edge of the bed.

Neither one thought anything of the fact that they were both bruised and battered. Both of them bore bruises on face and body that would have had any other person begging for relief. Zechs poured tea for them both and handed Wufei one of the two pills Heero had placed on the tray, each in its own little sauce dish.

Wufei eyed the pill with some misgivings. Zechs took his without comment and sipped his tea.

"Want to talk about it?"

Wufei shrugged. "I . . . dream. Not pleasant ones. You know about my trouble with . . . smells. I dreamed about being captured. Duo has similar dreams. We usually help each other through. U m . . . thanks for . . . everything." Wufei buried his nose in his teacup and flushed.

"I also have bad dreams. You could do some therapy. It's called desensitization therapy. It could really help all of you."

Wufei nodded. "Quatre is looking for a therapist. The best one isn't available. And the next best is so busy he turned us down flat. Quatre won't settle for third best, so I don't know what we'll do."

Zechs settled against the head board and pulled Wufei against his chest. "We'll figure out something. I'll do some research and see if I can't get Relena to put some pressure on number one. Finish that tea. . . I'll finish mine. We ought to be seen in the common room soon. We've worried everyone, and Mr. Fox is here. Must do the pretty you know."

Wufei sighed, then nodded. It wouldn't do to have trouble with the man because they'd offended him.

So finally they were all in the common room and settled for coffee and breakfast. Mr Fox politely asked what had happened last night and got an animated explanation from Duo, who as always was the unofficial storyteller of the group. Mr Fox made appropriate sounds of horror and surprise at the proper times. Then told Zechs that he'd be happy to help clean up the mess.

They all headed to his rooms with cleaning supplies in hand, only to find that the worst of the mess was cleaned up. All the mess had been taken away, broken furniture removed and torn curtains replaced. All that was needed was final cleaning.

It didn't take them long to complete the cleaning, especially as they found out that Mr. Fox had a sharp eye for cobwebs and such. He also took one look at the harp standing safely away from harm and smiled to himself. He brushed his fingers over the strings carefully and cocked his head to hear the tone.

"This is a nice harp, you play, or is it just a fashionable decoration?"

Zechs shook his head. "I play, but we don't have time for it now. I just got a message from the warden. Since I broke it I have to replace it. It seems sensible to me. And that way I get to choose what it want. . . Heero . . . go in there and break that damn bed. I hate it."

Heero just smirked at Zechs, his laughter told Zechs that no one was taking him seriously.

Mr. Fox looked surprised. "You're going shopping? I thought . . . well . . . it's. . ." He stammered to a halt and Wufei took pityon him.

"You can leave, if you sign out. You won't be allowed to leave the campus for a while. But once you've finished your probational period, they'll tell you where you can go and who can visit." They all smiled at Mr. Fox's confused and delighted expression. He left almost immediately, mumbling something about finding out exactly what he could do.

Zechs smiled at Wufei and Heero as they conferred quietly about furnishings. Duo was sitting on the counter swinging his legs. There were no whole chairs left in the rooms to sit in.

Duo eyed the two combatants and decided that he really didn't want to be in a 'for real' fight with either one of them. He hopped off the counter and sauntered over to Heero. He put his arms around him and rubbed his cheek against Heero's shoulder.

"Yes?" Heero leaned back against Duo waiting for him to speak.

"Nothin'. Just wanted to be near you. They're gonna toss us out tonight. We shopping or what."

Heero clasped Duo's wrist and tugged gently until they were both on their feet. "Yeah we're going shopping. Zechs will just have to decide on the fly I'm not wasting any more of my time with you nattering about furniture. I like Swedish Modern."

Duo choked. "Swedish . . . but that stuff is hundreds of years old. Why do they call it modern?"

"Because when it first came out it was . . . modern that is. I like its functionality. And it fits in here much better than that institutional innocuous. That stuff is . . . " Heero stopped talking before he said something to hurt Zechs.

Duo nodded shortly. "'Fei, come on, let's get the lead out. I want to find something special."

Wufei came out of the bathroom and Duo blinked. He stalked over to Wufei and walked around him staring. Wufei smirked at him and walked over to Zechs. "You want me to cover that for you. You look like you walked into someone's fist."

Zechs touched his still tender cheek. "I don't think so. It's still a little tender. You look good."

"Thank you. I'm not about to go out looking like I've been brawling. But it's you and yours. What will you say if someone asks you a question."

Zechs just stood up to his full height and looked down his nose at Wufei. "Nothing. We going or what."

The walk to the mall was fun except that Zechs kept getting sympathetic looks from people. Wufei walked beside him and kept up a flow of conversation that was answered kindly if a little distractedly. Zechs seemed to have something on his mind but Wufei knew better than to force the issue. He'd talk when he was ready and not before.

They entered the mall and walked around for a while looking in windows and commenting on things there. Not always kindly.

Duo took violent exception to a suit in a window. It was tight and looked rubbery, with fat, rolled piping down the outside of the legs and over the shoulders.

"What the hell is that supposed to be? It looks downright lewd." Zechs snorted. "What? I know words. Just because I don't use, them doesn't mean I don't know them."

"Wasn't the word I was laughing at. It's that suit. It is downright something. Poor taste, to begin with. I wouldn't be caught at a pimp's ball in that thing." Zechs eyed the suit with ill disguised distaste.

Duo snorted crudely. "Shit, pimps dress better than that. I knew guys that wore cashmere and silk. Looked like undertakers. Street pimps answered to them. That thing would scare little kids."

Wufei eyed it with undisguised disgust. "What's it supposed to look like? I don't . . . it looks familiar."

Heero finished his examination of the suit, frowned as he ran through his memories. "Looks like Trowa's space suit. The one he wore first. Sort of. In a back handed sort of way. Ugly. Polyester. Furniture store is just up here." Heero walked away leaving the other three staring after him.

Duo made a rueful face. "And all those poor poly's died to make that horror. The . . . ack! Ok, ok. " Duo ran after Heero as Wufei figuratively prepared his first broad side.

Then they were off and running. Duo continued to aggravate Wufei, much to Zechs amusement, and Wufei managed to maintain his dignity, sort of.

Zechs touched Heero's shoulder. "Should we be worried?"

Heero watched Duo peek over a rack at Wufei and point out something that made Wufei scowl and shake his head in disgust, real or feigned. When Duo turned away, Wufei smiled gently at the back of his head.

"I see." Zechs filed that away for future reference. "We ok?"

Heero just nodded shortly, then said. "We better separate them for a while . . . for our sanity's sake if nothing else. If Duo pesters Wufei too much it's liable to get ugly."

Zechs stiffened. "Ugly? Duo wouldn't hurt Wufei would he?"

Heero gave Zechs a stern look. "No, neither of them would hurt the other. But Wufei will get a head ache, then Duo will try to take care of him. Do not let Duo nurse you. He's the universes worst. So we better separate them. I don't feel like dealing with Duo wallowing in guilt in our last few hours together."

So the collected their, prospective in one case, and loving in the other, boy friends and went their separate ways.

Duo swiped his hand over his forehead, shoving his bangs out of his eyes. "Geeze, Heero. I thought Zechs would never take the hint and get Wufei away from us for a little one on one."

"He didn't. I told him you'd give Wufei a headache eventually. So he finally took the . . . a-hem . . . hint, and took him off. I hope they take up. They're both so lonely, it's just plain sad."

Duo gave Heero a startled look. "You . . . you're match making? . . um . . . where's the Heero Yuy, I knew and tolerated."

Heero smirked at Duo. "He's here, sans armor. I am learning. Slowly, but surely. Love you. Close your mouth."

Duo snapped his mouth shut, then snickered. "Yes, Mom."

So they headed for the Ikea store to walk around and dream about furniture and as Duo put it 'a real home of our own. With kitchen stuff and . . . stuff.'

Heero kept his arm around Duo's waist or shoulders, as if he was afraid he would slip away. Or disappear, or something.

Duo pulled him from one end of the mall to the other, laughing and happy. Heero entered into the fun as best he could. He still had some problems with emotions, especially strong ones. But this was fun, he liked seeing Duo so happy, so he did his best to keep what he thought of as the momentum of the situation going.

And they did, Heero smiled, Duo chattered and people near them had to smile at the sight of two young men doing a mall crawl.

Duo turned around in the large open area in the middle of the mall. The area where they'd seen the Gundam game. It was long gone, in its place was some sort of fountain.

Duo sighed softly. "I'm really sorry we didn't get to play it more. But . . . it _was_ fun to work on it and get it going again. Right?"

Heero grinned at Duo. "Yeah. It was. But . . . come with me no questions? Ok?"

Duo gave Heero a slightly doubtful look but agreed. "Sure. It's not something nasty, is it? You wouldn't pull a prank on little ol' me, would you?"

Heero pulled him into a hallway. "No, it's nothing nasty. And I wouldn't prank you." Heero crossed his fingers behind his back.

When Duo saw the machine, he nearly squealed like a girl, not that he'd ever have admitted it if he did.

There in the middle of a big room, was the final Gundam Game machine. It was huge, it looked almost exactly like the original model except more finished. Heero walked up to the attendant and just handed him his bank card.

"How long can we have?"

"As long as you want. We just opened for the day. The lines won't start forming until school is out. And if I find out that you two are skipping you'll get banned for a week. Ok?"

Heero just shrugged. "Duo come on. You're first."

Duo quit staring at the machine and stepped up to the attendant, who asked him a bunch of questions only relevant if you weren't a Gundam pilot. Then he helped Duo settle into the pilot's chair, strapped him in and asked his level.

"Gundam pilot."

"Kid, you sure? It's really rough. Grown men give up after a few seconds."

Duo looked over the man's shoulder at Heero, Heero just gave him an encouraging nod.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Let 'er rip."

So the man closed the door and started the game. Heero leaned back to admire his lover as Duo worked his way through the opening levels of the game. He made it look easy. Which it was, for him.

The attendant was having cats, kittens and cows. He called his boss to come see. He called his girlfriend, who called all her friends and they all showed up to watch.

Duo didn't notice, he was busy. He'd reached level eight by the time the crowd started building. Heero put his back against the wall behind the attendant's desk and admired Duo's technique. He'd never had time to really watch him before. Usually when Duo was fighting they were either separated or he was fighting for his life too.

Duo fought with a concentrated fury that made Heero smile. He'd seen Shinigami perhaps three times and each time he did it reminded him that Duo hadn't been made a Gundam pilot because he was beautiful. He was as fierce, as hard, as dedicated as any of the others.

In fact he was scarier than any of them except Heero and Heero knew it. So Heero watched, admired, and analyzed. Then he noticed the noise. The muttering background had turned into gasps and cries. The room was crowded now, and all the watchers were either silently awed or loudly excited.

Duo finally won the last battle and the machine shut down with a loud fanfare and a stupid announcement that the winner was to be awarded a certificate of completion. Heero sneered.

The attendant helped Duo out of the unit and he staggered slightly as he came down the steps. He was sweating heavily and Heero hurried to his side.

"'Ro! I can't get my breath. I can't . . ." Duo was gasping for air, panting hard and shuddering. Heero simply supported him for a few seconds waiting for him to catch his breath.

The attendant stepped forward and touched Heero on the shoulder, nearly getting himself decked. "Hey easy. Come on, bring him over here. We get this now and then."

Heero picked Duo up and carried him to a chair behind a screen. Another attendant made a short announcement telling the crowd what was going on and assuring them that Duo was in no danger, just 'oxyed out' and in need of a good sit down.

Duo was still panting when the attendant carefully put a face mask over his nose and mouth. He held it until Duo nodded and put his own hand on it to hold it in place.

"You'll be ok in a few minutes. We get this once in a while. I don't know how the original pilots managed."

Heero shrugged. "I didn't need any help, but the others had high concentrations of oxy in their cabins. It kept this from happening."

Duo shook his head. "Quatre had h-oxy equipment. I didn't. I don't know if Wufei did or not. Trowa had some kind of concentrator, I think. You never saw me right after a mission. I always had this happen. I just lay in the chair and gasped like a landed fish until I got caught back up."

Heero just stood and stroked his shoulders until he put the mask down in his lap and leaned into his lovers stomach.

There was a slight disturbance as the screen rattled, then Wufei peeked around the edge. "You ok? What happened?"

Heero explained what had happened and Wufei turned to speak to someone hidden by the screen.

"He's ok. Look's like he oxyed out again. I don't think I want to try that machine, it doesn't make any allowance for heightened oxygen needs. Zechs, could you get him a drink? He's sweating like a pig."

Duo grimaced, he was really thirsty and tired. He tried to hide it, he wanted to eat out with Heero before they were parted again. He didn't exactly succeed, but Heero didn't say anything.

They could see Zechs making his way to a machine to fetch a bottle of water, but he was stopped only a few feet away by someone who offered him a sealed bottle. He bowed gracefully obviously thanking the person. He returned with it and handed it to Heero, who handed it on to Duo.

Duo drank carefully, he knew if he gulped the cold liquid, he'd regret it, and others might as well. He sipped at the bottle until his mouth didn't feel quite so much like he'd eaten cotton.

"'Ro, I'm ok now. You going to take a turn?"

Heero rubbed Duo's shoulders one last time. "No, I don't think so. I don't want to take up the time. Maybe Zechs and I will come back some other time. I'd rather spend my remaining time with you."

Duo got a forlorn expression on his face. "Heero. I'm so sorry. I . . ."

Heero put one finger against Duo's lips. "Don't. I love watching you. I never got to see you fight much. It's something rare and wonderful. At least to me. You're like a force of nature. The God of Death. I love you so much. And that's enough of that." Heero replaced his finger with his lips kissing away Duo's apologies.

Wufei watched for a moment then sighed loudly. Duo's eyes popped open and he crossed them at Wufei, who made an annoyed noise which made Heero stop kissing Duo.

"Chang Wufei, I will get you for that. Sooner or later."

Wufei just rolled his eyes at Duo and muttered, "I'm so scared. View me scared."

Zechs looked from Wufei to Duo and, deciding that there was really no threat, pulled Heero away telling him that they'd better get some dinner if they wanted to eat out before they had to be back at the facility.

"I don't care what anyone says. A contained helmet is too claustrophobic. I couldn't stand one."

Wufei shoveled rice into his mouth from the bowl he held just under his chin. "Mmphf." He swallowed quickly in order to argue for the idea. "You wore that silver mask for years. What's the difference?"

"I wore that damn thing, yes. And I think that's why the idea of a contained helmet bothers me so much."

Heero chewed for a moment then shrugged. "A contained helmet would be better. You have all the heads ups in one layer and everything else in another . . . what . . . two or three? And switching between them is voice controlled. It's better and easier. Also there's the added benefit of injectability. And concentrations are controlled. So . . ."

Wufei interrupted wearily. "Could we talk about something else . . . please? I'm tired of O2 concentrations and holo layers. My head is starting to ache."

Duo turned to Wufei. "I'm sorry. We're . . . never mind. You got something?"

Wufei rubbed his forehead wearily. "No. I'll be ok, just no more Gundam talk. They're launching the disposal unit soon. Nataku . . . she'd . . . ." Wufei gulped trying hard not to show his upset.

Zechs signaled for the check and pulled Wufei's chair out. Heero and Duo rose too. Wufei was really upset and they could all see it.

When the waiter came, Zechs easily navigated his questions and offers. "No, everything was fine. The young man is just over tired. Long day, don't you know. I'll pay the check and we'll wait outside for a cab." He signed the check and motioned the waiter away. The host came over to tell Zechs that a cab was waiting outside.

They got into the cab and Zechs settled Wufei against him, using the excuse that the cab was crowded and the jostling would make his head worse. Wufei didn't seem to mind. Heero settled Duo against him in a similar pose and they rode in silence until they reached the facility.

Duo walked Heero to the desk and they stood talking quietly until one of the guards announced softly, "Ok, guys. Hate to be a wet blanket but it's curfew so one last kiss and you, young man, have to leave." He turned to Zechs and Wufei, who'd been sitting together in companionable silence on a nearby bench. "And you two also. Kiss and say good-bye."

Neither Zechs nor Wufei bothered to correct him.

Zechs waited until Duo and Heero were done then he gently bid Wufei 'good night, Yazhen.'

"Good night, Dawei" Wufei put his arm around Duo and Duo returned the favor. They walked out the door back to the cab. Heero's eyes followed Duo all the way. No one noticed that Zechs did the same with Wufei.

Trowa examined the final papers and sighed. "I don't like this. Relena is . . . is . . ."

"Foolish in the extreme. I know. But it's a bow to the peaceniks. They think that all we have to do is destroy all the weapons of mass destruction and everyone will suddenly become a dove." Quatre rubbed his eyes in frustration. He'd argued against this until the last second, but he'd been over ruled at every turn.

Trowa put his arms around Quatre and hugged him. He couldn't have cared less about Heavyarms, as far as he was concerned the suit was just a weapon. He had to admit to a slight pang, but not the angst of Quatre, Duo or Wufei. They were heart broken and trying hard not to show it. He had no idea what Zechs thought about it all.

"It's an almond for a parrot. It's futility at its most oblivious. I don't care that much about my Gundam. It is, after all, only a machine. And he always ran out of ammunition at the worst time possible. But if something happens, and it will, we start out at a disadvantage."

Quatre just shrugged. "Let Lady Une deal with it. The ban on gundanium will only keep honest people from manufacturing mobile suits with it. And, besides it's obsolete anyway."

"'Fei?" Duo rolled his head on the seat back.

"Yeah." Wufei stared at the back of the cab drivers head.

"I think I'm sick. They're launching soon."

Wufei didn't bother to ask what Duo was talking about, he just bit his lip to keep from screaming, or crying, or doing something else girlish. Watching Duo in the simulator had hurt.

"'Fei?"

"Not now, Duo. I'm tired."

Duo rolled his head back to face front. "Sorry. I just. . . I wish . . . 'Fei, they'll be sorry. I just know it. It makes my belly knot."

"Mine too. We're going to be caught per nostrum pardus down."

Duo blinked into the darkness. "With our pants down, you betcha."

Zechs managed to make the call with a minimum of fuss. After speaking to his contact he sighed into the darkness. A soft tap on his door drew his attention away from his thoughts.

Heero stuck his head in the door and looked at Zechs sitting in the darkened room.

"You ok?"

Zechs switched on the desk lamp and got up to make hot chocolate. "I'm fine. Are you ok?"

Heero moved into the middle of the refinished room. "It's a machine. A machine to kill with. I don't quite know how I feel. I should be glad, but I'm not . . . not really. I get a cold feeling between my shoulder blades. How about you."

Zechs handed Heero his cup and took a sip from his own. "They didn't get Talgeese. He's hidden. They've been relentless in their attempts to get me to tell where he is. One of the reasons, no doubt, that I'm still here. But I'm not telling. Not for a while yet."

Heero just nodded. Then he cocked his head, "I think you are wise to keep your silence. No matter what."

Zechs squared his shoulders. "Not pleasant though."

Heero just sipped at his cocoa and kept his own counsel.

Mingzhen - Shining Pearl

Yazhen - Cultured Treasure

Dawei - Greatly Accomplished.


	22. Bitter Goodbyes

The Price 22 Bitter Goodbyes.

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Trowa read the report with a smirk. This was going to work out quite well. Quarte was so

innocent looking that most people forgot that he was master of a multibillion credit, multi colony

corporation that produced everything from conveyances of all kinds to 'slykalyon' stockings and

makeup. He went to tell his lover that things were going as expected.

Quatre rubbed his forehead tiredly when Trowa spoke to him.

"This is all so unnecessary. All they . . . bunch of fools. " Quatre snarled with an

uncharacteristically savage expression. "Set things in motion, will you."

Trowa nodded and left, after giving Quatre a gentle kiss. Quatre kissed back with a distracted air.

He was doing his best to get things wound up enough that he could go back to Earth, but his

sisters were doing their best to keep him on L4. Trowa had a good idea why, but he wasn't about

to tell Quatre. He had an unhappy feeling that Quatre already knew what was going on. It made

him nervous, which made him silent, which made Quatre even angrier.

He didn't fancy dealing with Quatre in a temper. Not at all. Everyone seemed to forget Quatre

was a Gundam pilot and a man capable of managing WEI single handedly. Trowa sighed and

settled at his desk to take care of business.

Quatre leaned on his desk, punched a button on his phone and waited.

"Quatre, darling. I was waiting for your call. I've got the most delicious little girl. . ." Jessamine

was one of the thorns in Quatre's side. She'd been a nuisance trying to get control of WEI and

was now happily running her own corporation into the ground. Quatre didn't regret what he was

about to do in the least.

"Jess, shut the fuck up. I'm queer. Gay. What I want is a guy. I've got one and I intend to keep

him. Stop fixing me up with every lose thighed slut you know. I'm sick of it." Quatre smirked

nastily at her astonished face on the vid. "I'm leaving for the new colony in a week and I'll be

out of communication for a month. I'll be handling WEI business on the next nearest colony, but

I'll only be there one day a week. I won't have time for you, or Fatima, or Ayisha, or your

machinations. Leave it alone or feel my displeasure."

He reached out and mashed the cut off button so hard he drove it into the case. He felt much

better than he'd felt in some time, he just hoped that he didn't have to get so nasty with some of

the sisters he liked. That would hurt.

Quatre opened his email and started working his way through the stream of invitations, demands

for reparation and various much wanted communications from friends. One of the invitations

caught his eye.

Relena was going to visit several prisons. She'd planned the visits when Heero was in hoping to

see him. Now the visits were unnecessary but she'd planned them and many people had gone to

a great deal of trouble so she was going anyway. But she was whining a little, she invited him to

come to some of them with her. He decided to call her with his regrets.

Duo sat in the chair in the garden, looking at the stars. He felt sad. He had been invited to the

ceremony sending the Gundam into the sun. but he just couldn't go. He didn't want to part with

'scythe. His Gundam had been his security for the whole of the war and he felt slightly bereft

and very betrayed. 'They' had managed to separate him from Heero now this.

Wufei watched Duo and worried. He felt just as betrayed as Duo did. His Nataku was all he had

left of his colony, and his wife. He could feel her 'rolling in her grave' now. She'd made him

promise to take good care of the Gundam and this wasn't taking good care.

Wufei slipped out the French doors and settled beside Duo.

"You ok?"

Duo shook his head. "No, I'm not. I feel all . . . can't even say. Like I've been gutted and just

now beginning to feel the pain. . . you think we'll be able to see the lift off?"

Wufei shrugged, he sincerely hoped not. He didn't want to see the column of fire that would

signal the loss of his friend.

"Don't know. I don't want to. Please, let's go back inside. It's cold at night now. Come on."

Duo got up and wandered inside with Wufei. They sat on the couch and looked for something to

watch on vid, but all they could find were news casts of the launch. Duo pitched the first really

bad fit Wufei had seen him throw in months.

"God damn it! I'm sick of this. Why don't they just kill me too? Deathscythe is mine. The

colony said so. Now they take him away and just kill him like he's nothing. Well, this is what I

say to them."

Duo pulled his side arm out of its holster and shot the vid. Wufei just sat and stared at the unit

for a moment, then he stood up and walked to his room. He didn't say anything to a still ranting

Duo, he didn't try to stop him. If he wanted to shoot up the whole house, let him

Wufei sat at his desk and wrote, line after line of careful, distinct kanji. He had no idea what he

wrote only that it was what he felt. Then he took the whole book outside and burned it.

Duo wandered out and watched. Then they fell into each others arms and just stood neither one

commented on the tears on the other's cheeks.

Zechs watched as Heero wandered from room to room and out into the garden. He'd invited

Heero to make some music with him but had been turned down with a soft 'not now, too . . . sad

I think'. So he watched as his friend wandered and worried at his feelings, like a sore tooth.

"Here, drink it."

Heero took the glass and sipped then did a double take.

That's scotch. I'm . . ."

"If you say too young, I'll smack you. You're old, in ways those stupid people can't even

imagine. I'm sorry."

Heero knew what for without asking. "It's alright. They'll regret it, sooner or later. Then I'll

laugh at them as they scramble around trying to figure out what the fuck to do."

"You going to try to rescue them?" Zechs eyed Heero carefully.

"Not a fucking chance. They make their bed let them lie in it." Heero gave Zechs a mutinous

shrug of one shoulder.

"That should be lay."

"Damn it, don't correct my grammar at a time like this."

"Sorry. Thought I could distract you."

Heero looked at the sky.

"There they go. Bye Wing." Heero chugged the scotch and went for the bottle. Zechs followed to

fetch another glass and join him.

Heero got quietly drunk, Zechs gently tucked him in and sat beside the bed until he was sure that

there were no dreams.

Relena settled into her chair and answered the vid. It was Quatre.

"Yes, it's done. Quite the turn out too I must say. I was pleased with the out come. But we still

don't have Talgeese. That's not good. "

She would have said more but Quatre overrode her. "I don't like that smug self-satisfied tone.

You don't understand anything. Please listen to me. Preventer is wrong. There are a lot of

dissatisfied people out there, something is going to break lose sooner or later. Probably sooner

now that you've rubbed everyone's noses in the fact that the Gundams are gone. You'll regret

this."

Relena sighed. "The machines of war must be destroyed. The Gundams are visible symbols of

conflict. You should understand this. You were raised by pacifists."

Quatre just hung up on her. He knew he wasn't going to make any headway. He'd badgered and

begged for months, now he had other fish to fry. Big ones.

The uproar over the Gundams settled more quickly than anyone would have thought. It was one

of those things that Relena referred to as "fifteen minutes of uproar and a century of thundering

silence." Everyone tried to return to normal but both Heero and Zechs were well aware that Duo

and Wufei were more affected than they wanted to let on.

Duo managed to visit Heero at least every other day. He was still taking classes via a web site.

He laughingly referred to it as e-uni but there was a sad edge to his smile now. Wufei flatly

refused to talk about it other than to Dr. Terry.

Zechs helped as best he could, talking with both men, he couldn't bring himself to think of them

as boys. He felt sorry for both of them, he understood and he knew that the other pilots did. But

no one else could.

The other shoe fell with a finality that made press.

"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this breaking story. Talgeese has been found. The last

of the Gundams will be brought to the outskirts of the city later today. Vice Minister Peacecraft

will be speaking later on this afternoon."

Zechs froze, paled and fled the common room. Heero followed him and caught up just in time to

catch him as he crumpled to his knees, Heero cradled Zechs in his arms as he cried. They both

did. Zechs wailed his grief over his friend Trieze, his sister, his Gundam, and Heero cried along

with him. When they finished, they were both exhausted. Heero helped Zechs to bed then called

Wufei.

"You better come. They found Talgeese and I'm afraid he'll do something stupid. Hurry."

"I'm coming. See to it that I don't have to deal with the desk. Duo will come too. As fast as we

can."

Wufei called Duo and they headed for the garage. The chaffer slept over it so Duo knocked him

up and they left for Ambrose Estates with Wufei grumbling about Relena being stupid and the

legislature needing their heads examined.

When they got there, the desk guard motioned them in without question.

Heero met them at the door of his rooms and led them through to the opposing quarters. Talking

all the way.

"He's sleeping now but he's really restless. He keeps . . . I'm not sure exactly how to put it. He

half wakes up, looks around, sees me and goes back to sleep."

Wufei stripped off his clothing and crawled into the bed with Zechs. Zechs turned to him in his

sleep, his breath hitching slightly. Wufei curled up against him and petted his braid gently.

Duo drew Heero into the sitting room and settled on the couch with him

"I like this Danish modern. It's really classy. We could have stuff like this, you think?"

"It's Swedish modern and I think I'd like that. Someday."

They argued about whether it was Swedish or Danish modern and finally settled it by doing a

web search. Neither one of them forgot for a moment that their friends were in the other room,

but they gave them the privacy they needed.

Zechs woke up around two a.m. with Wufei sprawled across his chest grasping the middle of his

braid in one hand and the blanket with the other.

"Chang, wake up." Zechs jiggled his shoulder and consequently Wufei's head.

Wufei snorted softly and mumbled, "'m up. 'n a minute."

"Wenlong, we can't get caught in a compromising position. Wake up."

Wufei woke grumbling, "Ok, ok, I'm up. But I'm not some foolish girl, to worry about a

reputation."

Zechs made a disgusted noise. "You should be. They'll think we're lovers and then the press will

have a field day."

Wufei snorted. "Let them. I can think of people a lot worse to be linked with."

Zechs hauled on drawstring pants and handed Wufei another pair of the same.

"Like who."

Wufei rolled his eyes. "Well, there was that colonel at that facility in Geneva. He was . . . "

Wufei darted for the door as Zechs grabbed for him.

When he burst into the sitting room, he woke Duo and Heero who were now asleep on the couch

with the vid on the news.

They jumped up, but seeing that it was only Wufei and Zechs, they settled down to watch as

Zechs chased Wufei out into the garden.

They soon came back as the temperature was on the frigid side and Zechs started to say

something but Heero held up a hand.

"Not necessary. Come sit down. You're cold now. Stupid. Duo, hand me the afghan."

Duo handed Heero the afghan and Heero poked and prodded Zechs onto the couch and into

position. All Zechs did was raise an eye brow at him and accept Wufei into his arms when Heero

plopped him there. Heero wrapped them both in the afghan and turned to Duo, but he was

already making chocolate.

Duo brought over the mugs and set them on the table. Taking one for himself and one for Heero,

he settled into his own lover's arms.

"Heero, we got trouble with the facility?"

Heero shook his head. "The warden suddenly seems much more lenient." He smirked at Zechs

who flushed slightly. "And I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth."

Duo shuddered. "No, it might bite you."

Zechs, distracted from his grief for a moment, sighed, "Horses don't bite. At least not usually. I

have . . . had a very nice mount at one of my estates. He loved . . . never mind. Not important."

Zechs cuddled Wufei, who just snuggled back. It felt good just to be held in strong warm arms.

Duo rolled his eyes. "Horses are too big. And . . . they smell."

This brought about an animated discussion in which Heero and Zechs held that horses were

gentle, obedient beasts and Duo stuck to the opinion that they were dangerous and tricky, just

waiting for a moments inattention to strike with some nefarious plan of their own. Wufei just

listened and held his peace.

Zechs finally called a halt to the argument by pointing out that it was nearly four in the morning

and they all needed sleep or they would be stupid when they woke again. So they wound up on

the floor on sleeping mats that the staff brought for them. Zechs insisted that one of the guards

stay in the room with them, 'To quell any gossip. We can't afford it at this point.'

They woke again at nearly ten a.m. with the vid grumbling in the back ground. Zechs started to

turn it off but found himself fascinated by Relena's speech. She rambled about peaceful

cooperation, generating good will among the colonies and Earth, and other pet projects of her's

including Preventers.

Wufei snarled behind Zechs. "Turn that off. The silly girl turns my stomach. I realize that she's

your sister, but she's ruining Preventers before they even have a chance. No arms, negotiation

above all. Who's she kidding?"

Heero sighed himself awake. "Mostly herself. She'll find out soon enough that she's created a

monster. Quatre is really gearing up his own security force, isn't he?"

Duo handed around coffee and they settled in for a grumbling session which lasted until Zechs

glanced at the vid again just in time to see Talgeese disappear in a ball of flame and fragments.

The mug in his hand shattered with a dismal pop.

"Damn that girl. Turn that shit off. Now." Duo snatched up the remote and punched the power

button, hard. Zechs just stood up, then sat down. When he stood up again they all braced

themselves for some sort of explosion, but all he did was go into his bedroom. When he came

out he handed shorts to Wufei along with his trainers.

Heero looked at them for a second, then just told Zechs to wait for him. He motioned to Duo to

come with him. Duo followed quickly without question.

They went to Heero's rooms and got shorts, T-shirts and trainers of their own. Heero notified the

warden's office that they were going for a run and didn't know quite where they would be. He

was told to be sure to return by three p.m. at the latest.

Zechs had waited patiently for Heero to get ready. When Heero and Duo joined him again he just

looked at Wufei then took off.

They followed him out the intake area doors and into the park across the way. It was a repeat of

another such journey for Heero, but this time they had permission and no one was threatening to

shoot Zechs.

This time they entered the park through the gate half way down the block instead of jumping the

wall. Not that jumping the wall would have bothered any of them but it did upset the locals. So

the used the gate.

Eyes followed them as they ran around the path just inside the perimeter of the park.

They were greeted with smiles by all but a few. The sight of Zechs and Duo's trailing braids was

strange, but not threatening to anyone. And Heero and Wufei were sleek and beautiful in their

own way.

Zechs set a fast pace and made three laps around the park, no one said much until Duo finally

laughed and demanded a stop for a drink before he dried up and blew away.

They took a half lap cool down and then stopped at a convenient bodega to get drinks and finish

their cool down. The clerk just stared at them for a second then gulped.

"You're the Gundam pilots. I . . . wow . . . how can I help you?"

He didn't seem afraid just awe stricken. And babbling.

"Geeze, you guys are all so small . . . not that I . . . well, no offence. But he . . . he's the tallest of

you and he d . . .I'll shut up." Duo had turned his coldest glare on the boy. He hated being

reminded of his size. Heero just looked like he'd seen something nasty. Wufei ignored the clerk

with dignity and Zechs frowned and shook his head at the boy.

As he checked them out the boy apologized again. "Look, I'm really sorry. But . . . you don't

look so small on vid. And . . . just . . ." he sighed and shut up again.

Duo took pity on the boy and explained between gulps of his drink. "We're all small because

there wasn't that much room in a cockpit. Except for Talgeese and one of the reasons its name

contained tall was because he was . . . tall that is. Biggest Gundam there was . . ." Heero

snatched at Duo as he suddenly ran out the door. He missed and followed after Duo.

Zechs paid the clerk and he and Wufei followed Heero and Duo into the alley where they found

Duo huddled against Heero's chest, sobbing his heart out.

Zechs placed himself in the mouth of the alley and left Heero and Wufei to comfort Duo as best

they could. But it was not to be, the two couldn't comfort where there was no comfort for

themselves. They all three wound up crying softly. Zechs fought off his own tears until he

couldn't any more.

When he joined them, he wrapped his long arms around all three of them best he could and just

held on, weeping himself, cheek pressed against Duo who had his head on Heero's shoulder.

Wufei had his cheek pressed against Duo's back, Heero leaned into the huddle and wound up

with his forehead pressed against Zechs.

Finally Duo stirred. "I'm gettn' squashed here."

Just as they started disentangling themselves, there was a shout from the street.

"Hey, you guys leave him alone."

Zechs lifted his head from where he was murmuring to Wufei.

The well-meaning man flinched, then stood up to them.

"You guys get away from him. I don't know what you're up to but I'm callin' the law. You can't

just gang up on smaller people like that."

Duo flinched back. He still had problems with loud voiced, heavy set, big men. And this guy was

all of those.

"Here. You come to me, right now. I won't let them hurt you." The man made 'come here'

motions with one hand and reached into a pocket with the other. Duo recognized the bluff at

once but he smiled, rather tremulously to be sure, and eased away from Zechs, patting him on

the arm.

"Mister, it's ok. I'm fine."

The man looked the soggy group over and realized that there was no trouble here, so he stuck his

phone back in his pocket. "None of you look fine." He pinned Zechs with a stern look. "I don't

know what is going on here. But maybe you should take it inside somewhere. Standing around in

an alley like that, isn't smart."

Heero just nodded. He and Zechs herded the rest out onto the street. Duo managed to keep both

Zechs and Heero between himself and the man, who watched as they returned to the sidewalk

and started back for the facility.

Heero handed Duo a rather wet handkerchief and Zechs fished one out of the pocket of his

shorts. Wufei rather shamefacedly made use of the hem of his T-shirt, or started to. Zechs shared

his handkerchief with him.

When they reached the facility, they were greeted by one of the guards who told them Relena

was waiting for them. Zechs groaned softly. He really wasn't in the mood for her just now. But

he excused himself to the others and went to see her. Never mind that he was sweaty and teary,

she'd just have to accustom herself to the fact that he was not a prince anymore.

"Zechs, I'm sorry I couldn't get hold of you. I'm truly sorry. Please, won't you sit?"

Zechs plopped himself inelegantly into a chair and gave his sister a rather cold look.

"The least you could have done was give me a chance to say goodbye. Clean out the cockpit.

That sort of thing. I had some memories in there that I didn't want to part with. That's why they

were there."

Relena silently put a small duffel bag on the coffee table. "I know. I tried to make them hold off.

But after so much . . . discussion about destroying them, I didn't feel it was politic to try to make

them wait. But I did manage to make them clean out the cockpit first."

Zechs took the bag and sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. But . . . I spent a

good portion of my life in that suit the last couple of years. And . . . "

Relena held up her hand wearily. "Please spare me. I've heard it all before. We're going to need

them . . . yada, yada, etc. I don't think so, you do. You're entitled to your opinion. I'm sorry we

can't agree. I would really like to get along with you and I intend to do all I can to get you out of

this awful place as soon as possible."

Zechs ran his fingers through his sweaty bangs and bit at his lower lip.

"Thank you. It's not so bad, really. Considering where I could be. What are you going to do with

me? . . . after I get out, I mean."

Relena blinked at him for a moment. "Nothing. I thought, if possible, I would get you and Heero

out. Then you can try to make some kind of life for yourself. Whatever you want. What do you

want?"

Zechs said the first thing that popped into his head. "A million credits and a sports car. . . um . . .

hell!"

But Relena broke into merry laughter. "Now that's the brother I want. I don't know about the

sports car, but you'll have full access to your estates and your income. If you're rehabilitated,

you can't be kept from it. And, since Talgeese is destroyed, there's no reason to assume that

you're not . . . rehabilitated that is. And Heero's therapist has said he's rehabilitated as well. So

with all the Gundams gone." Relena bit at the tip of her finger. "I think I can push the necessary

paper work through within the week."

Zechs just sat there with his mouth open. "Relena . . . are you sure? . . . it . . . I mean . . . Heero . .

." Zechs realized that he was stammering and shut up.

Relena gave Zechs a sharp look. "What about Heero? Is something wrong with him?"

"No, but if this fails, he'll . . . be heartbroken, is too strong, but he'll certainly be upset. And Duo

will be heartbroken. It's pitiful to see them part. I don't think either one would really survive

such a disappointment. Please be sure before you tell either one of them."

Relena nodded. "I will. I don't wish any more grief on Duo. He's had more than enough. I used

to be jealous of him. But . . . some of those vids, well, I just couldn't watch more than two

seconds of them. Horrible. Terrible." Relena shook her head.

Zechs stood. "I need a shower. We were out . . . jogging."

"Running off your anger, you mean. I know. I can't say I'm sorry the mobile suits are gone. But

I am sorry for your . . . unhappiness. Please, be sure I didn't do it out of . . . spite."

Relena stood and walked to the door with Zechs. She stopped him with a hand on his arm. When

he turned to look at her, she held out her arms for a hug.

"I'm all sweaty."

"A little brother sweat won't kill me. And it'll drive Doro to distraction until I tell her it's

yours."

Relena hugged Zechs and smiled at him gently. "You'll have paper work by Wednesday at the

latest. Or I'll know the reason why."

Zechs smiled at her. "And then you'll turn Catalonia loose on them? I quake in fear."

"Please do." Relena dimpled at Zechs and turned to go. "Remember, she's not as ruthless as I

am, when I have to be. Brother."

Zechs went to take a shower.

He met Wufei and Duo coming out of Heero's quarters. "Well, she's . . . sorry."

Wufei snorted. "That's going to be a real comfort when we need them and don't have them."

Duo poked Wufei. "His sister, man. Take it a little easy. Although I can't help but think you're

right."

Zechs sighed and just walked around them, telling them that he was taking a shower and that

he'd meet them in the dining room in thirty minutes.

"Ok, man. Bring Heero with you will ya. He's in there drowning his temper in his shower. Cold

at that. Brrrrr" Duo shivered dramatically.

Zechs turned and gave him an amused look. "And how would you know that?"

"'Cause he turned off the hot the minute I got out. Man's a glutton for punishment. Masochistic

that's what he is."

Wufei gave Zechs a sly grin then said. "Well, maybe you ought to exploit that." Duo blinked at

Wufei puzzled. "A nice spanking ought to . . ." Wufei whirled and ran before Duo could do more

than squawk indignantly. Zechs laughed, shook his head and headed for the shower exhausted by

the emotional roller coaster of the last several hours.

When they all met in the dining room, the waiter decided to show his worst side. First he

informed them that the kitchen was closed, so there were only cold sandwiches and soup

available. Then he also told them that each client was only allowed one visitor in the dining

room.

Zechs raised one eyebrow and gave the man a once over that had subalterns literally pissing

themselves. "My good man, Mr. Chang is my guest. Mr. Maxwell is the guest of Mr. Yuy.

Please apply your tiny mind to the math for yourself. Soup. Vichyssoise. That's served cold. And

sandwiches?" He surveyed the table. "Egg salad?" Everyone nodded. Heero smirked. "That's

served cold too. And a 110AC Liebfraumilch. Not that inferior stuff you serve. Send out." He

turned his shoulder to the man.

The waiter muttered something under his breath. Zechs turned back.

"If you have something important to impart, please speak clearly and distinctly. Other wise keep

your mouth discreetly shut. You do understand discretion, don't you . . . the better part of valor?"

Zechs pinned the man with an ice cold look and waited. He got a muttered apology and the man

scurried away.

Heero just nodded to Zechs. "Much better"

Zechs nodded back "I do believe so."

When the waiter came back, he brought a bottle of wine and four glasses. He carefully poured a

small amount of the wine in a glass which he handed to Zechs. Zechs tasted it, then nodded. The

waiter poured glasses all around, his one eye roll was met with raised eye brows from all of

them. He quickly made his way to the kitchen again.

Zechs looked at each man then raised his glass. "Peace"

They all raised their glasses and chorused. "Peace"

A quick sip each and they turned to the food the waiter quickly placed in front of them.

The meal was subdued but companionable.

After several questions by Skippyscatt and others, I realized that I never said that, for the

purposes of this story, Endless Waltz doesn't happen. I apologize for any confusion.


	23. Trials and Tribulations

The Price 23: Trials and Tribulations

Betaed by Skippyscatt

The papers did come on Wednesday, along with a summons to come to court.

Heero bit his lip and sighed. "We have to go to court. Relena didn't say anything about that. I don't wanna go." There was more than the suspicion of a whine in his voice.

Zechs hunched a shoulder irritably. "I don't want to go either. The last time I went to court they made me wear a jumpsuit. I do not look good in orange."

Heero smirked at him slightly. "I wouldn't think so, with your coloring. I always have to be careful not to break the leg irons. It's a real nuisance."

Zechs slapped his hands onto his knees as he stood up. "I'm going to talk to the warden. I'm not showing up in court looking like anything less than what I am. And neither are you."

Heero just raised his eye brow and shrugged. "And what am I?"

"A decorated war hero." Heero snorted. "You are. You have a battle ribbon for every battle you were in. And a decoration for courage above and beyond. As well as several 'bullets' for being wounded. I'll have to check exactly, but they will be appended to your record."

Heero managed to look skeptical. "And that'll help . . . how?"

Zechs gave Heero a rather disgusted look. "Terrorists don't get medals. Think about it."

The trip to the court house later that day was accomplished in Relena's very pink and very recognizable limo. Zechs smirked at Heero before they got in.

Heero had been relieved to find out that they wouldn't be required to wear either jumpsuits or chains. Instead they both wore conservative suits, silk shirts and ties. He wasn't happy with the shoes however. He didn't like slip-ons. Never mind that his cost over $1000.

Zechs had hand picked their wardrobe himself. He'd sent for the manager of one of the most expensive and exclusive stores in the area. When the man arrived Zechs had explained that Heero needed a decent pair of shoes. The man had measured Heero and then produced from a trunk the very pair of shoes Zechs wanted. Heero had looked at them asked if they'd fit and shrugged when Zechs asked him if he'd rather have something else.

"If you like them, they're fine with me. I don't care."

Zechs sighed. Heero really didn't care what he wore. As long as he was covered, he was happy.  
Although he was beginning to develop some sense of style, after all he had realized that orange was not a good color for Zechs.

Zechs on the other hand was somewhat of a clothes horse and it showed. Now they both looked like up and coming young executives, Heero didn't wonder about the hanging suit bags that the chauffeur was carrying.

Duo and Wufei met them at the door of the court room. Heero blinked slowly. They were both wearing uniforms. He didn't recognize the type. Then he saw the WEI logo on the breast pockets.

They all went into the court room together. Zechs and Heero first, then Wufei and Duo. Zechs settled into one chair and motioned Heero into the next one. Next to Heero was their lawyer.

Duo and Wufei sat in chairs behind the barrier and just behind Heero and Zechs.

When the bailiff called 'All Rise!' the room stood in respect, although Heero heard some grumbling at the rear.

Then the judge came in, Heero smiled, it was Judge Randolph. Duo and Wufei both gasped softly. Then all three of them smiled, the judge had looked them over with a kindly twinkle in his eyes.

Judge Randolph called the court to order and settled himself to listen to the reasons that Heero Yuy-Winner and Zechs Merquise a.k.a. Milliardo Peacecraft should be kept in 'durance vile.  
The entire room erupted when the Prosecutor announced that he had no arguments against early release of either of the defendants.

The bailiff shouted for order, which he got after his second demand. Everyone in the room settled down again and waited.

Judge Randolph asked the defense to present their case.

When the lawyer stood up Judge Randolph greeted him as 'Judge Mundel' and requested to know why he was representing the two men.

"Your Honor, there has been a grave miscarriage of justice. These men are not and never have been in positions that make them chargeable under the Conventions of War Act. Neither of them was ever in command of more than one thousand men, nor were they responsible for their actions under the statutes applicable to their case.

"As we will see, each of them answered to a higher power. And none of them was in command of more than five hundred men and that only applies to Colonel Merquise. Even then it was only in the last stages of the war.

Then he went on to prove that the actions of both of them were more the actions of hero's. All the attempts to destroy Earth that they had nearly sacrificed their lives to stop. All the schemes to use weapons of mass destruction, vile diseases and bombs, that they'd all foiled were brought to the fore. Admittedly some things were glossed over a bit, but that had happened in cases much more prominent than theirs.

By the time Judge Mundel got through talking Heero and Zechs both looked like heros' rather than terrorists. Of course the man pointed out that Zechs had never been a terrorist, he'd been a member of the authorized military of the government of the time. Heero had been a 'hero of the people' which made the audience snicker slightly and Judge Reynolds bang his gavel and demand 'Order in the court room.' He threatened to clear the room and everyone settled down again.

After some discussion at the Bar, Judge Reynolds decided to allow vids from security cameras and news releases to be entered into evidence.

A few bits were shown in the court room and the judge had to clear the room. All reporters were sent to a viewing room and the rest were sent into another court room where they could see the vids on a few small screens set around the room. When the last vid was seen Judge Reynolds requested a short recess for himself and left the bench. Some people had already left the viewing areas for the restrooms. Reporters were frantically trying to either get in or out of their assigned room.

When he returned, he called Zechs to the bar for a consultation before he was allowed to testify.  
It was unusual but not unheard of. Zechs stood fiddling with the end of his braid, head bent listening to the judge as he asked questions. Most of his answers were accompanied by nods, a few by shakes, of his head. At the end of the side bar he returned to his seat and patted Heero on the shoulder.

Heero had been looking uncomfortable since the courtroom had been cleared. Duo and Wufei had had to leave with the rest of the spectators, even though they'd managed to sit quietly. Duo had paled and Wufei had scrunched down in his chair when the clips had started.

When they'd had to leave, everyone could tell that Duo was glad to go, his backward glances to Heero not withstanding.

Then the judge did something unprecedented, he called Heero to the bench. Judge Mundel went with him and stood at his side as Judge Reynolds asked him several questions.

When he finally called an end to the side bar, the judge banged his gavel, demanded quiet and told the remaining people in the court room that his findings were that there must be a judicial review of both trials.

Judge Mundel looked very satisfied but the Prosecution objected.

"Your Honor, we resent the implication of impropriety in any proceedings related to the sentencing of Masters Yuy or Peacecraft."

Judge Mundel smirked slightly and replied. "Motion to dismiss. As you can see, the prosecution can't even get their names right. Mr. Yuy-Winner and Mr. Merquise have a right to be tried under their correct names and, as the prosecution is well aware, Mr. Merquise is really His Highness. And was tried in absentia while he was on Mars, attempting to further the welfare of mankind. Much to his own determent."

Judge Reynolds nodded then made his remarks to the public in general and the prosecution in particular.

"I've reviewed all the pertinent paperwork on the trials. I've been expecting this for some time. I will now hand down my decision. Both trials are suspect. There will be a judicial review of those proceedings to begin immediately. In the mean time both Mr. Yuy-Winner and Mr. Merquise.  
Also known as His Royal Highness, Milliardo Peacecraft will be released under their own recognizance. Dependant on a few conditions. Neither of them is allowed out of the city without notifying this court at least 48 hours in advance baring emergencies. Both young gentlemen are to reside together in any of the Peacecraft residences available in the city. Also, they will be under house arrest, so they need security, that security will be provided by WEI, inc. Security Systems Division. If and when you are seen on the street you will wear uniforms provided by WEI. That is all."

He banged his gavel and motioned to the bailiff to call the end of the session. The bailiff called 'all rise,' everyone who was left in the room stood and watched as the judge stood and left the room.

"Well, that went very well indeed. We need to get you into those uniforms quickly before the reporters get restless. Come on. We have to hurry."

Heero tugged at Zechs halting him for a quick question. "Um . . . what the hell just happened?  
Are we free or what?"

Zechs shrugged. "I feel Relena's heavy hand. We're not free yet, exactly. Come on. If we're supposed to put on some obnoxious uniform, we better act cooperative."

They were led into a small consultation chamber and handed suit bags. The bags the chauffeur had brought with him.

Zechs unzipped his and pulled out a uniform. Heero did the same. Then they just looked at each other for a second. Heero started stripping down, followed shortly by Zechs. When they got into the uniforms, Heero realized that they were the uniforms he and Quatre had discussed months ago.

The shirts were 100 cotton and slightly loose under the arms. The jacket was carefully tailored to hide a side arm and made from the thinnest and best of the WEI bullet resistant fabrics. The pants had just enough ease to make it possible to indulge in some heavy gymnastics without nasty surprises, but tight enough that they looked good. The boots were standard combat boots,  
polished to a high sheen. The soft brown and buff coloring looked good on almost everyone.  
Heero ran a hand down the sleeve with satisfaction.

Zechs turned arms out to the side. "What do you think?"

Heero nodded. "Good, you'll give Wufei wet dreams."

Zechs started to make a sharp comeback then got a funny look in his eyes. "You think?"

Heero smirked. "I know. But what the hell is this?"

Zechs looked at the object Heero was holding. He glanced at the thing the chauffeur was handing to him, it was similar.

"It's a false front. It's easier to put medals and awards on it then fasten it to the front of a jacket rather than fasten everything to the jacket itself."

Heero eyed his with a sour expression. "I look like some sort of freak. What is this one?"

Zechs looked at the ribbon Heero was pointing to. "That's for the battle over Victoria. And that one . . . " Zechs pointed to another. "Is for . . . um . . . that dam in the Czech. states? You've got a real collection."

Heero examined the front Zechs had fastened to his own jacket. "That one is for Victoria also.  
And that one?"

Zechs looked down and Heero flipped the end of his nose with the pointing finger. "Gotcha!"

Zechs jerked back and laughed along with Heero. If anyone else had done that he'd have been highly insulted, but with Heero it was different. Any joke from him was welcome.

"Yeah I'll get you back sooner or later, see if I don't."

Heero shuddered dramatically. "Oooo, I'm so scared. . . . Come on. We better get out there before that lawyer comes in to get us."

Zechs thanked the chauffeur for his help and asked him to take care of their discarded clothing.  
The man just smiled and nodded, then started picking up the carelessly discarded things. Heero stopped him, rummaged in his pants pocket and stuffed something into his new pocket. Then he turned, squared his shoulders and followed Zechs out the door.

They were met by Duo and Wufei, Duo was grinning fit to split his face. Wufei was a little more reserved just smiling and nodding to them.

Heero looked from Duo to Wufei then back. "Oh, no. He. Did. Not."

Duo rocked from heel to toe a few times then snickered, "Yurp, he sure did."

Zechs looked from Duo to Heero then realized what Heero was talking about. "Chang, who are you responsible for?"

Wufei bowed solemnly to him but he had a twinkle in his eye. "I'm supposed to be guarding you. And you better mind me."

Zechs snorted. "I'm so scared, as Duo would say."

Wufei smiled. "Well, just now you better be. The ravening horde awaits. Come on, we better get it over with."

So they went out, but found that the reporters were busy fawning over Relena who was making a speech about how happy she was that she and Zechs were finally reconciled. Zechs snorted softly and edged the group toward a side door.

Thankfully they were able to sneak out that way, but not before Relena made a point of saying that she had always felt that something wasn't right in how both Zechs and Heero had been made examples of. They managed to get out before she included the words 'injustice' and 'scapegoat'  
in one sentence.

Zechs sighed in heartfelt relief when he saw the limo they were going to use. It was black,  
discrete, sleek and silent. Also big enough that the four of them didn't have to sit in each other's laps. Although that didn't stop Heero and Duo from doing so. Or rather Duo sitting in Heero's lap and as he cheerfully remarked 'snogging the hell out of him'

"Excuse me, sir. Which residence would you like to go to? There are four within the city limits proper and another that is just outside the city proper but within the area thought of as city."

Zechs pushed the intercom button and replied. "Are you telling me we're allowed to choose one?"

"Yes, sir. Miss Relena said to make sure that you understood that you can go to any of the residences that fit the parameters set up by the judge. That includes that really nice hunting lodge on the out skirts of town. Miss Relena made sure it was included in the list."

Zechs shuddered suddenly. "Yes, we'll go there. Come up on the north facade please."

The driver replied "Yes, sir" and shut the connection with a soft click of closing circuits.

They rode in silence for most of the ride. Duo asked about a building once and Wufei admired a park. Heero just held Duo and wondered how long this could last. He'd always known he would never have peace, he only made it for others. He knew he had to satisfy himself with scraps.

When they reached the residence, Duo squeaked, "It's a palace. What are you doing with a palace?"

Zechs smiled at him so gently that Duo knew he'd just said something stupid. "Duo, it's a hunting lodge. It's much too small to be a palace. It only has 45 bedrooms. And the ball room is small. Come in."

Duo eyed Heero who poked Wufei, who was standing examining the lodge with a sour look on his face.

Zechs turned and when he saw the look he couldn't help a slight feeling of . . . disappointment?  
"Something?"

Wufei turned to him and snorted. "Hunting lodge my foot. That's the old imperial residence. It's a gem of it's kind. And I know about the 'bed rooms,' but never mind that. It's very fine. You shouldn't denigrate it so."

Zechs shrugged. "It's been the prime residence of the crown prince for centuries. It was built in the late twenty-first century, copy of the Biltmore. Come in before they think we're not going to."

They entered the residence and Heero reached for a gun he didn't have. There had to be twenty-  
five people standing in ranks looking at them. Zechs made a slight bow, barely more than a nod of his head. All the servants bowed deeply or curtseyed. Wufei bowed, Heero scowled and Duo gave a shamefaced wiggle of his fingers.

The servants filed out and a lady, obviously the house keeper walked up to Zechs and curtsied.

"Sir, we are so pleased that you have chosen to come to us. We . . ."

Zechs held up his hand. "We are all exhausted. Could we please go through the greeting speech later? I'm sorry to be rude but, please show us to our rooms."

The lady smiled gently. "Very well. My name is Mrs. Callander. If you need something, just ring. The staff is very well trained and you won't see much of any of us, unless you want to. I understand that you prefer to care for yourself. And I'm sure that the other young gentlemen won't appreciate servants creeping up on them. Cleaning will be done between the hours of ten and two. Leave your dirty clothing in the hamper, it will be taken away and either left on the bed or put away at your pleasure. Anything you want changed just tell me. If you want, I'll come to you every Monday with a report on household conditions. And a menu for the week. Snacks will be available on request. Unless you would prefer to cook for yourselves?" Zechs shook his head with a smile. He wasn't about to try to cook for himself.

As she was talking, she led them up the curving staircase and down a hall. She stopped at a door at the head of the stairs and opened it.

That was when Duo and Heero realized that what Wufei and Zechs had referred to as bedrooms were really suites. Each suite had two bedrooms with attached bathrooms and sitting rooms, they were connected by a larger sitting room called a public room.

Duo goggled at the room behind the open door. It was huge, filled with furniture. All of it comfortably arranged into conversation groups. Zechs just nodded. "Thank you. You will place Chang Wufei in the suite across the hall and Mr. Yuy-Winner and Mr. Maxwell in the Princess suite. Instruct the staff that no one is ever to try to wake any of us without due precautions.  
Which include not touching us. Do you understand?"

Mrs. Callander gave him an odd look but nodded her head. "Yes, sir. I understand. The staff will be instructed."

She showed Wufei to his bed chamber and then took Duo and Heero to theirs. She curtsied to each of them Wufei bowed slightly in return and Heero nodded the way Zechs had. Duo smiled hesitantly and was given a gentle smile back.

After unpacking and taking off their uniforms, Heero and Duo got dressed in jeans and t-shirts.  
Duo spent sometime examining their rooms and marveling over the setup. They'd had nice rooms in Quatre's large house but nothing like this.

This house was a copy of the Biltmore estate in the old American state of North Carolina. There had been a few changes but not that many. It was huge, old, and very beautiful. It was also so elegant that Duo was afraid to touch anything for fear of breaking it or being accused of trying to steal it.

Heero was impressed with the house but not intimidated in anyway, after all it wasn't trying to kill him.

Wufei found the house beautiful, warm and inviting. And very like the house he'd grown up in,  
at least in feel, if not in architecture.

Zechs settled into his rooms, for the first time in his life in a place that was actually his. He'd never lived in most of his houses, he'd always been in hiding or in the military. This house was one that he'd lived in and loved. Now he was happy to be able to stay here again.

He wondered what Relena had promised to whom to get this done. Zechs was no fool and he knew that machinations of this quality were costly and not in money. Relena had called in favors and promised things in order to make this possible, he just hoped she didn't wind up regretting it.  
He had hoped that Relena would never have to become a political creature but evidently she'd had to do so. He bit his lip, then went to be a good host to his three friends. The only friends he had. He had to smile at that.

He settled at the desk in the large morning room and booted his computer. He stopped for a moment to admire the polished titanium case and smile. He'd been delighted when Heero had given it to him. He knew that he'd bought the components but too many times things he'd been promised had not been forthcoming. Even though he'd paid the price for them.

He spent the afternoon taking care of estate business that had been too long neglected. When he finished, he felt like he'd fought a major battle. He went in search of his guests meaning to apologize for neglecting them.

Instead he found Wufei in one of the salons reading a book with a cup of tea beside him. When he sat down on the love seat across from him, Wufei took off his glasses and smiled.

"Thank you for the book. I had a copy of this, but somehow it disappeared along the way."

"You're very welcome. I'm not sure but I think that Relena did it."

Wufei smiled, "and where did she get a list of my favorite books?"

Zechs grimaced then sighed, "From me. I wondered what she was up to. She's doing her best to make up for sacrificing the Gundams but I'm still put out about it. I can't help but feel that something is breathing down the back of our necks. Something with rather big teeth."

Wufei nodded. "I get the same feeling. It bothers me that Quatre doesn't seem to be worried. Nor does Trowa. Something's in the wind, and I don't think it is entirely kosher."

Zechs accepted tea and sipped. He and Wufei were in agreement on a lot of things.

They sat in companionable silence Zechs just relaxing and Wufei reading his book.

"Heero this room is just huge. And what are we supposed to do with that other bedroom? I'm not sleeping away from you any more. Anyone who tries to separate us again is in for a world of hurt. All we did and this is the thanks we get? They try anything else and we'll go to the L2 cluster and disappear." Duo grabbed Heero's hands and tugged, Heero put his arms around Duo and held on. "Promise me. Please. I don't think I could stand it."

Heero kissed Duo on the temple. "I promise. If there's anything I can do to prevent it we'll never be separated again. L2 it will be."

Duo cuddled against Heero and sighed. "How long do you think we have until someone comes to look for us?"

Heero led Duo to the door took a small brass tag from the inside and put it over the outside door knob. He then shut and locked the door.

"You're armed?"

"Yeah, got permits and everything. Left it in the closet though"

"Ought to get it. Anyone comes in, shoot them. In the leg preferably. Make a good impression.  
Come on."

Duo blinked then ran after Heero. Only to be scooped up and thrown onto the huge bed. He yelped. Heero pounced.

Heero took hold of the neck of Duo's shirt and ripped it from neck to hem. Duo clawed at Heero's shirt so Heero ripped it too. The pieces of both shirts flew in every direction. Heero yanked at the button on Duo's jeans and it popped into the air, plopping onto the carpet somewhere close by.

Duo reached out and unbuttoned Heero's button fly with the clever fingers of a pickpocket. It didn't take either one of them much longer to be naked. Heero sat back on his heels for a few moments to admire Duo who was sprawled across the mattress in wanton abandonment. Duo eyed Heero through heavy lidded eyes and licked his lips.

Heero smirked at Duo and leaned in to take the first kiss from him. Duo locked his hands around Heero's head and held him refusing to let him draw away until they broke apart to pant for air.

Heero took control and pinned Duo to the bed, gently pulling his boxers down his thighs to pull them off, he took a moment to kiss the high arch of one foot while Duo moaned softly.

Duo lay back and enjoyed it as Heero kissed and licked his way up his leg to the knee, when he got there Heero gently pushed until Duo flexed his leg. Placing his foot flat on the bed, Duo waited for what Heero would do next.

Heero settled onto Duo's chest, gently pulling the trailing braid out of the way.

"Duo, I love you so much. I missed this. I missed you. We . . . "

Duo put a finger on Heero's lips. "We were so worried about things we . . . just didn't. Now we can. And I'm gonna . . ." Duo rolled Heero over and straddled his hips. "And I liked that shirt.  
We should have done this first."

Heero smirked. "I'll buy you a new shirt. I . . . we . . . should have waited until after supper."

"Fuck supper."

"I'd rather fuck you"

"Ok"

So Heero gently made Duo ready. He pinched Duo's nipples gently until all Duo could do was moan and clutch at his shoulders in an attempt to get him to do more. Heero's hand slid in between Duo's legs and Duo yelled as Heero penetrated him with one slick finger.

Zechs flinched as a particularly loud wail drifted in the open French doors. Wufei continued reading, placidly turning another page.

"Is he all right?"

Wufei looked up "If you mean, is Maxwell uninjured, yes. All right? I have doubts." He returned to his book.

Soon the faint thumping noise made Zechs stand and begin pacing restlessly. Wufei shook his head, got up and poured a glass of wine. He just stood in Zechs' path and waited for him to turn and come back to him.

He handed Zechs the wine and again returned to his book, hiding the slight smirk behind it.

This time you could tell it was Heero because it wasn't so much a scream as a hoarse bellow.

The thudding continued until Zechs wondered what the hell was going on. No one could last that long.

Evidently he'd said that out loud as Wufei said calmly. "Heero has amazing endurance. In all things. And Duo is astonishingly . . . er . . . persistent."

Zechs nearly dropped his glass, Wufei was taking the whole thing with a calm bordering on boredom. "Wufei, you can't . . . I . . . ." He stopped talking before he started stuttering.

"We were confined on one of Quatre's smallest estates. It was almost impossible to get away from each other. And we did stay in safe houses together on a few occasions. Even more confining. I'm just glad that they feel like it. They didn't for quite a while. Wasted opportunities . . . Damn!"

The last exclamation was brought out by an especially loud bang from overhead. Wufei followed Zechs out the door at a dead run.

"Zechs wait!"

But Zechs had already thrown the door open expecting to see, he didn't know what. Not what he did see. Which was two pistols pointed precisely between his eyes. He froze, Heero froze, Duo swore.

Wufei looked in the door himself and smiled, Duo was flat on his back, one leg trapped under Heero. Heero was half on one side, half on his belly. Both of them were stark naked in the middle of the broken bed.

Zechs blinked. That bed was solid wood, he wasn't quite sure what kind, but it was hard. "Umm . . . you broke the bed? Oh . . . sorry . . . you can put those away. Sorry I . . . interrupted you . . .  
excuse me." Zechs slammed the door and looked at Wufei, then his face turned scarlet.

Wufei bowed slightly and moved his hand in a 'you first' gesture.

They returned to the sitting room and Zechs poured himself another glass of wine.

"Well, that was . . . different. Did they . . . you must . . ." Zechs sighed and shut up before he said something to insult or embarrass Wufei.

"I'm used to it. They do that from time to time. I'm glad to see that they are happy here. I knew that they would be. Duo was so miserable with Heero imprisoned that I was truly afraid for him a few times. They had so little time together after the war. It was horrible."

Zechs shook his head. "How . . . I mean, you were together at . . . what was it called? Where you were under house arrest."

Wufei shook his head. "Didn't have a name. Quatre bought it specially. Our captors had a list of requirements that I think they hoped we couldn't meet." He smirked in a rather self satisfied way. "But we did. So they proceeded to make us as miserable as they could."

"I see." Zechs frowned thoughtfully.

"No, I'm afraid you don't see." Wufei sounded bitter and disgusted.

"Then explain it to me."

So Wufei did.

"We had no peace, ever. There were guards everywhere, all the time. We weren't supposed to leave the grounds except to go to debriefings at ESUN headquarters. But we were never taken there together. They'd only take two of us at a time while the rest of us stayed at the mansion.  
We didn't even get to go out into the grounds without an escort. We ate together, we could watch vids together. But we couldn't sleep together. We weren't supposed to indulge in perversions. So Duo, Heero, Trowa, and Quatre were miserable. They spent what together time they could sneak fucking like weasels, with me as look out. We also weren't allowed excessive physical activities.  
They were afraid we'd 'over do' it and hurt ourselves. Luckily they didn't understand how much exercise my katas are, nor that tai chi and yoga can keep a person in top physical shape. And the guards did their best to destroy our self-respect . . . until Duo . . . er . . . blew up the barracks.  
They suspected but couldn't prove that one of us had done it. Then things got better in one way and worse in another."

Zechs looked up from where he was contemplating his wine. "How was that?"

"Our guards realized that we were for real. Good in that some of the subtle abuse stopped. Bad in that they were now afraid of us. Nine months of never knowing when someone was going to open the bedroom door or the bathroom. Check over our belongings for contraband and just in general make pests of themselves.

"At least I finally got them to stop confiscating my books for censoring, of all things."

"How did you do that?"

Wufei looked Zechs straight in the eye. "I made them pay for a twentieth century volume of poetry. It was worth about eight thousand, until some fool black lined it."

Zechs winced. "That was outrageous."

"More that outrageous. My father had given it to me."

"If I'd been in . . . I honor you all as soldiers should be. That behavior was unacceptable. Truly dishonorable. But . . . they were . . . " Zechs trailed off as he struggled to explain the unexplainable.

Wufei helped him out. "None of them wanted to admit that what the professors did was real.  
They want peace without cost. It's not possible."

Zechs finished his wine. "Exactly." He looked at his watch. "Bed?"

Wufei shook his head. "I think I'll read for a little while longer. It's nice to have a place to read that is not in my bed."

Zechs turned at the door. "I'll say good night then, I enjoy reading in bed. It's . . . decadent."

Heero put his gun away and turned back to Duo. "I think we scared him."

"Who?" Duo carefully rolled off the bed to see if he could fix it.

"Zechs. He had a really weird look on his face." Heero lifted the heavy bed frame so Duo could look under it.

"I don't think we scared him so much as startled him. I mean, breaking a solid teak bed, then drawing down on him. Startle a stone statue." Duo wriggled under the bed.

"What's up under there?"

All Heero could see were Duo's feet. "Slats are pine. We broke two and the rest shifted. The box springs fell through the frame. You've got hold of the edge of them as well as the frame of the bed."

Duo crawled out and Heero let the bed down. "I'll ring for one of the servants to come and replace them."

Duo shrugged. "Might as well wait. We'll only break them again. I want . . . m m mfff."

Heero pinned Duo to the bed and gave him what he wanted. Three times.

Breakfast the next morning was interesting. Zechs kept his nose in his paper, Wufei smirked at Heero until Duo raised an eye brow at him and then Wufei smirked at Duo.

"Zechs."

Zechs raised his head and gave Wufei a deer-in-the-headlights look. "No. You're too young. I don't . . . I . . . oh, shit!" Zechs threw down his paper and left the room.

Duo looked at Wufei with wide eyes. "What the hell was that about?"

Wufei pinned Duo with a stern look. "He desires me. But he feels unworthy, or too old. I'm not sure which. Or perhaps both. Do. Not. Pick. At. Him."

Duo held up his hands in a 'no threat' sort of gesture. "Wouldn't think of it. It's not like you're an innocent or anything. Not with the four of us around. Right Heero?"

Heero just grunted something that sounded vaguely like 'hint, tie' and picked up the front page of the paper.

Wufei followed Zechs out onto the terrace surrounding the Olympic sized pool.

"Are you all right?"

Zechs shook his head.

"I'm a fool."

"Could you tell me exactly what happened in there?"

Zechs found that he couldn't look at Wufei. "That's why I'm a fool. My name sounds . . . it's stupid."

Wufei nodded wisely. "Ah, your name sounds like sex, if you're not listening particularly."

"And it's not as if that particular joke didn't make regular rounds. Even Maxwell. Sexy Zechsy.  
You're much too young."

Wufei fired up at that and gave Zechs an ear full.

"I'll have you know that I'm not only well trained in sexual arts, I'm a widower. So get over it."

Zechs demanded an explanation so Wufei obliged him.

He explained that he'd been betrothed to Merian at 12, and married shortly thereafter. They had of course lived with his parents.

Then he shocked Zechs to the core by admitting that one of the reasons that he and his wife had not gotten along was that he found her physically uninteresting.

Then he told Zechs he had had extensive training in pillowing and pleasing both men and women. When Zechs gave him another startled look, he smirked.

"Contrary to popular belief my culture didn't expressly forbid homosexuality. It was discouraged in favor of bisexualism. Men loving men was reserved for warriors in battle field conditions and older men who'd already done their duty to the family. It was kept as discrete as concubines always are. And of course as the Sun of the Dragon Clan I was trained in all the arts. I sing,  
dance, draw, paint, do calligraphy and sumi-i, play shakuhatchi and three kinds of chess. I know eight 'ways' of martial arts, not including weapons. And I am not a virgin, either way."

Zechs sprang up in a fury. "Who dared? I'll hunt them down and . . ."

Wufei stood up and put his arms around Zechs. "Be calm. One of my teachers of each sex. It was carefully arranged and most discreetly done." Wufei hushed and petted Zechs until he calmed and sat back down.

"So you've had lovers?" Zechs couldn't help the jealousy he felt.

"No. I was broached and that is all. I am not experienced, only educated. I know what goes where and what feels good. But I've never felt the need to utilize my education. I'm not . . .  
promiscuous." Wufei smiled at Zechs as he settled on the love seat with him.

Zechs couldn't help pulling Wufei against him. "I'm sorry. I'm acting like a fool. My . . .  
education was mostly from dormitory and barracks room talk until I was much older than you.  
Treize was my first and only lover. And we hid in corners . . . you can imagine the strain and we finally broke up. Then we didn't get along and he . . . used me in ways that I can never forgive."

Wufei made a face. "I know. Come, we better get back inside. You shouldn't skip breakfast.  
You'll be ill."

So they went back inside to finish their breakfast.

Duo smiled at them and poured tea for them. Heero pushed the still warm dishes in their direction and rang for more toast.

After breakfast they all went their separate ways.

Duo wandered down the path toward the edge of the estate. He could go wherever he wanted to because he was free, due to Heero's sacrifice. So he walked wondering what he was going to do until he and Heero could start a real life.

Duo let out a startled yelp, he was on the edge of the WEI training grounds. He could even see the building at the start of the obstacle course. He realized that he was just behind the motor pool buildings. And on his left was the old warehouse that Mick kept his Leo in.

Duo headed for the warehouse, but he stopped in at the motor pool to let them know that he was on the grounds. It wouldn't do to ignore the proprieties, he didn't need to cause trouble in the ranks.

So he spent an hour gossiping with the guys in the repair bays, enjoying the companionable discussion of hoists and servo motors.

Then he went to the warehouse to see the old man and his Leo. Only Mick wasn't there. The only person there was a young man who was trying to charge the old batteries one more time.  
Duo managed to stop him before he connected the cables and blew himself and half the building into pieces.

"Hey! Don't do that! You'll blow yourself to hell. Those batteries aren't meant to be connected to DC. You gotta use AC."

The guy looked up. "Hi, Major Maxwell . . . Gosh, thanks. I don't know a lot about this thing.  
All I know is ol' Mick is on his last legs. Some shit he got in space or something. He really wants to run this suit one more time before he goes. So a bunch of us were going to move it over to the main group and see if we couldn't do something with it."

Duo brightened. He could do this, working on a Leo wasn't nearly as complicated as working on a Gundam. He thought quickly.

"Look. Leave it right here. I've got time to spare and I'm bored. Heero's bored too. We'll get it up and walking like a champ in no time. We'll need . . . get me a pad, will you? I'll make a list as soon as I'm done with my Eval. Ok?"

Duo was already looking the old suit over and making a mental list of what might be needed to put the thing back on its feet for one more mission. Mission: make Mick happy.

The boy dithered for a moment then decided. "Yeah, that'd be great. My name's Lukas, John Lukas. But most people call me Luke. I'll tell the guys and we'll do whatever you need. We all like Mick. He's sorta . . . off, if you know what I mean. But he's harmless and he'd do anything for us. Shirt off his back, ya see."

Duo nodded at the guy. "Yeah, I know. I've met him a time or two and heard around about him.  
You know where he is now? Hate for him to catch on."

Luke sighed, "He lives with his son. Other side of town. He's in bed for the rest of the week. His son called us and practically begged us to get that creaky antique to make one more walk. Before the old Aussie's heart gives out. We gotta get it goin'. Please Major."

The kid nearly had tears in his eyes. Duo just patted him on the shoulder. "Don't feel bad. Heero and I'll get it going. We need parts, though. You got a way to get them? If not, is there a machine shop . . . never mind. Stupid question. Just . . . Here start sweeping." Duo handed the boy a broom and showed him where to sweep.

Then he called Quatre, or tried. What he got was one of his secretaries, aids, or whatever they called themselves these days. The man just stated his name and waited.

"Jeffries."

"Ummm, yeah. Jeffries. This is Duo Maxwell. I need to speak to Q . . . I mean Quatre. Could you connect me, please?"

"I'm sorry. Mr. Winner is out of touch. He's working on a classified . . . he's on the new colony.  
I'm your contact. I'm to get you whatever you need. Period."

Duo bit at his lip for a moment, he wanted to be working on the colony, but he would stay wherever Heero was. He thought for a few seconds while Jeffries waited patiently.  
"Ok, here's the deal." Duo filled the man in on what was going on. Ending. "I want you to get hold of the old man's medical records and find out what's up. Also, I want a full shop in here as soon as you can get it. And parts. For a Leo. I'll let you know exactly which model as soon as I can. You got all that?"

When Jeffries said he did, Duo hung up and started crawling all over the Leo.

What he found made him groan. It was junk, literally. It needed so many parts that it would have been easier to just find one that worked. But the cockpit gave that a big nuh-uh, it was as bad as if not worse than Deathscythe. Pictures were stuck to parts of the frame, parts that couldn't be removed without damaging the pictures and other modifications that just said. 'This belong along Mick.' Duo could hear the old man now, rambling along in that Aussie accent, telling stories of war and battle, peace and friendship. They'd get that Leo to walk if Duo had to rebuild each and every part himself.

Duo made his list and sent it to three people. Jeffries, Heero, and Mr. Lyons. He hadn't been in his office much in the last month, but he'd kept up with his work via computer and phone calls.  
So he pulled Mr. Lyons out of his hat and put him to work.

Heero opened his mail and instantly groaned, he hadn't done anything with it in a while and he now had several thousand mails. He knew that most of them were spam, junk or flames, but he just couldn't bring himself to delete the whole que there might be something important in there somewhere. So he started by deleting everything that he knew was spam or junk, that got rid of more than a quarter of it.

Then he started reading the rest. Or at least starting to, a lot of this got deleted after only a few words. Most death threats he forwarded to a special box for attention by WEI experts. A few he just snorted at and deleted. Some he answered and the rest he just trashed. After two hours he finished with the first in box. He had two more to go. But the other two were different. One was known only to the other pilots and the third was known only to his investment counselor.

Heero reread the last mail in his personal box and smiled. He shut down the computer and went to find Wufei.

He found Zechs too and that was all right.

"We're needed. Come on."

Wufei didn't ask any questions. He just got up from his chair and followed Heero. Zechs trailed along curiosity eating at him.

Wufei followed Heero into the grounds. "We need to follow this path. Duo gave me precise directions in his mail. I'm not exactly sure what we're needed for but he's wound up over this.  
So we'll just go see what's what."

Zechs listened in some amusement as Heero finished filling Wufei in, falling into the shorthand that they'd used during the war. He had absolutely no idea what Heero was talking about but Wufei did.

"Ok, now that you're through being cryptic. What is going on?" Zechs shouldered a branch aside before it could hit Wufei.

Wufei filled Zechs in as best he could. "Duo wants us to work on some project he's come up with. I don't care what it is, Heero says he's really excited about it. That's good, he hasn't cared much about anything. Now that he and Heero are together again expect some trouble. Heero isn't as stoic as everybody thinks he is. He just . . . you say missions and he's like one of Pavlov's dogs. J messed him up fairly well in that respect, but he's getting better. Now that the war is over. I can tell. So I just . . . damn it, I'm babbling. I don't babble."

Wufei shut his mouth with a grim expression. Zechs grinned at his back and decided to give Duo all the help he could. Zechs realized that he felt happier than he had in a long time. Whatever Duo's project was it was good for all of them.

Then they got to the warehouse and saw that Leo. Wufei blinked and said some very bad things in Mandarin. Zechs agreed with him in German and Heero followed suit with a spate of Japanese that would have blistered paint, if there'd been any left on the Leo. Duo bounced towards them.

"Hey, guys. Isn't it great? It's a great project. I'm . . . un . . . guys?"

Hey, la. Another chapter done. Thank you to Skippyscatt, who took time out of her busy holiday schedule to beta this. Next chapter won't be out until after Christmas.

The system has again eaten all my breaks. I hope I got them back in the right places. Sorry.


	24. Duo of All Trades: Part I

The Price 24: Duo of All Trades: Part I

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Authors note: The story skips to the next morning.

Heero sighed and stood up. He had known this was a bad idea from the minute he'd seen the Leo. Now he was sure.

Duo had pulled all the servomotors from the suit. And the hydraulic hoses, and the circuit boards and the wiring and . . . Heero realized that he was getting frustrated. He knew why Duo was so set on getting the Leo going again. But all they really had was a shell. Empty and sad. Heero wondered if Duo realized what a job they had in front of them.

Duo blew his bangs away from his sweaty forehead. They had a hell of a job in front of them,  
but he knew they could do it. He just hoped that the others didn't get discouraged. He could make any parts they couldn't find, if he didn't have to install everything too. So he just started making a schedule.

He settled at the small desk and made lists; lists of parts, lists of machinery, lists of wire and diodes and servos and chips. He sent all the lists to Heero's email and to the local WEI headquarters, then he bit his lip, "Heero? Zechs? Will he want in on this?"

Zechs leaned over Duo's shoulder making him flinch. "Sorry. Yes, I want in on this. It's a good thing. I found out about Mick. He got some sort of radiation poisoning on a secret station in the war. Leaking power plant. It affected his brain, his immune system and his lymphatic system.  
He's got a few months at best. So, yes, I'd like to help."

Duo grinned at him over his shoulder. "So the great prince doesn't mind getting his hands dirty?"

Zechs shrugged stolidly. "Depends on the kind of 'dirt' we're talking about."

Heero shuddered at the tone of voice but smiled at Duo's open mouthed expression.

"I'll start taking the servos apart. How are the joints?"

Duo shrugged. "I haven't looked at them yet. Zechs?" Zechs turned to look at him from where he was sitting. "You inspect the joints in detail for me?"

Zechs stretched slowly, showing off a flat abdomen and broad shoulders. "Sure. 'Fei, you want to help"  
Wufei surreptitiously wiped his sweaty palms on his jean clad thighs. "Sure. You poke, I'll take notes."

"And why is that? You're smaller than me." Zechs sauntered away, braid swinging.

"Because the last time I actually tried to examine a joint on a Leo. I nearly lost a finger. I'm keeping my hands out of that from now on. I have ten fingers for a good reason. None of them are spares and I intend to keep all of them, thank you very much."

Zechs turned to Wufei, glancing sharply at his hands. "I expect details, Chang. You aren't the careless type. So details. Come on."

Wufei sighed, he knew that Zechs was going to have a fit when he was told that the reason he'd almost lost a finger in a Leo was because he was booby trapping it. He followed dragging his feet a little.

Now out of ear shot of Duo and Heero, Zechs took both of Wufei's hands in his. "I see, right here." Zechs touched a deep scar on the back of Wufei's right middle finger near the knuckle. "It looks bad."

Wufei clenched his fist. "It was. I nearly lost my finger. The only thing that saved it was, I bleed like a pig. The blood made my finger slick enough that I could pull it out before the joint rotated all the way."

Zechs stroked the clenched fist until it relaxed into a slender, clever hand again. Wufei watched,  
startled as Zechs massaged his hand. "You don't have to do that. It doesn't hurt, unless I get really cold. Then it stings some. Booby trapping a Leo is hard at the best of times."

Zechs surprised Wufei by ignoring that. He held Wufei's hand in his and unconsciously rubbed at the scar as if to erase it. Wufei made a soft whimpering sound. No more than a breath of sound, but Zechs dropped his hand and turned away with a mumbled apology. Wufei followed him, clutching his hand and smiling.

Wufei took his computer out of his pocket and settled on a cherry picker platform, Zechs maneuvered the bucket to the first joint at the neck of the Leo. He poked a hand into the joint and grumbled. "Loose. Sloppy. Needs replacing. Do we have a replacement? Hell no. Can we order one? Of course not."

Wufei bit his lip to keep from laughing. "No, we don't have replacement parts for most of the things we need. What we do have is Duo Maxwell. He can make the most amazing things. And if he can't make it Heero can. Especially if it's electronic. He can make a radio out of . . . well.  
Things that scare me. And Duo. . . you don't say you can't to him. Makes him crazy. He'll prove you wrong or die trying. At least he used to. Heero'll have something to say about some of his more dangerous activities. . . I hope."

Zechs raised an eye brow, knowing that Wufei would see it. "So Maxwell can make almost anything? Can he make all the servos, all the command boards and reprogram that obsolete piece of shit that this thing calls a main computer? " Zechs stuck his hand into the shoulder joint. "And if that mother board isn't completely fried, I miss my guess. Again, loose, sloppy loose. Worn out and useless. This is . . . "

"Don't say it. " Zechs nearly fell off the cherry picker. "I'll only prove you a liar. Not that I'm callin'ya a liar, you understand. Just a figure of speech. Here." Duo swung down from his position, hanging from the head of the Leo by his heels. He handed Zechs a servo. "Take that down with you. And be careful, that's the only one that's in good shape. I'll use it for a pattern for the others. I'll take them all apart and see if I can't salvage enough good parts to rebuild some, then I'll just make the rest. And we'll have to do it assembly line, or we won't get done before the old guy croaks. So." Duo dropped from the bucket to the knee joint, then to the foot.  
He slid down the foot to the floor and headed off into the blackness of the warehouse's interior.

Zechs turned to look at Wufei and when he couldn't find him, swivelled his head around looking for the 'dratted kid'

He found him and nearly had a fit, against his better judgement Wufei was sticking his hand into the hip joint of the Leo. But in order to do that he was hanging from his knees which were hooked over the waistband. If he fell he wouldn't have time to flip before he cracked his skull on the concrete below. Zechs took simple steps to prevent that.

He reached out, grabbed Wufei by the back of his coverall and pulled. Wufei yelped, tumbled into Zechs's arms and found out that when the one time prince lost his temper it could turn out to be painful. Zechs gave him one sharp swat on the seat of his pants, then swore, dumped him on his feet and turned away with a scarlet face.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. You scared me. I don't react well when people I . .  
. like . . . scare me. I usually get angry. I'm sorry."

Wufei rubbed his stinging gluteus maximus and shook his head at a staring Duo. "That's ok. I tend to do the same thing. Make a note. . . the next time you do that, you better tie me up first"  
Wufei didn't see Duo's face or he'd have realized that that was not the smartest thing he'd ever said.

Zechs whirled to stare at Wufei, then schooled his face into severe lines and nodded. "I'll remember that. We better get back to work before Duo chastises us both for fooling around."

Heero picked up one of the lists of things that Duo wanted. They were all electronic parts, so he called out that he was going to the electronics warehouse situated on the other side of the grounds. Duo had already made arrangements for that facility to handle their needs.

Heero jogged across the tarmac surrounding the warehouse, looking around in appreciation of what he saw. The grounds were policed carefully, not so much as a gum wrapper on the ground.  
The grass was clipped, the flower beds trimmed. All the buildings were in excellent repair. All in all exactly what he would have expected from WEI. He was happy, the sun was shining and he had a 'mission.'

When he got to the proper building, he opened the door and entered, the cool interior welcome after his jog in the sun. He went to the desk and handed the clerk the paper.

"Damn, you want a lot of stuff. You walked over so I'll have to drive you back. You're not carrying all this stuff. Too bulky." She smiled at him, then headed into the back of the facility to start picking his parts. "You might as well come along. This is an impressive list. You can help me." Heero followed her into the back flipping up the gate built into the counter and pushing open the swinging lower part.

Heero sighed, the warehouse was huge, with floor to ceiling racks of electronic parts of every description. He was sure that, if something existed, it was here somewhere. The only problem would be finding what was wanted.

"Here, here's a map of the unit. Parts are sorted by type. Transistors, resistors, memory modules,  
hard drives, etc. Just check the map, find the area then everything is in numerical order more or less. If you can't find something just leave it. I'll find it myself. Ok?" Heero gave a jerky nod.  
"Let's get busy." The woman walked away with a waive of her hand. Heero took the next cart in the line and followed her into the bowels of the warehousing.

It didn't take him long to get the hang of the system and he spent the next hour picking parts and grumbling. There were so many different electronic parts in a mobile suit, even a Leo, that he felt like he was going to have at least one of everything in the building before he was done. And this was just the common parts. They would still have to find specialized parts.

Finally done he returned the cart to the main desk just in time to walk in on something.

"James Donald Frazer. How many times have I told you not to come here alone? You're in big trouble young man. You'll be punished. Shame on you."

Heero blinked slowly, his heart starting to hammer.

The young voice that replied was a bit tearful but still defiant. "I'm not a baby, I can walk across the grass without someone holding my hand. Besides I wanted to see the Gundam pilot. He's here. Daddy told me so."

"And where is your father, if I might ask?"

Heero stepped into the small office to see a boy about nine standing in front of the desk, red-  
faced and unhappy.

"I don't know. He was going out into the garden last time I saw him. I left a note."

The boy turned and ran right into Heero. Heero grabbed him and steadied him before he fell flat on his backside.

"Easy, you'll hurt yourself."

That was the final straw for the harried young mother. "Well, that just caps the climax. You're just impossible sometimes. You're really going to get it now."

Heero felt slightly faint, the sight of the woman sitting behind the desk brought back memories that he'd rather not have.

"It's my fault. I should have gotten out of his way. If you have to punish someone punish me.  
I'm tough. I can take it. Please?"

Some intuition told the woman that something about this was much more important than it would seem on the surface.

"Well . . . but if you're to take his punishment, he has to stay to see it."

Heero gave a jerky nod. At her hand motion he followed her into a large mostly empty room.

All it contained were several chairs set in front of a vid system, a small table and a tiny kitchenette. Mrs. Frazer motioned Heero and James to follow her further into the room.

Heero tried to keep his body between the woman and boy as much as he could, but the kid didn't cooperate. Instead he tugged on his mother's arm and whined. "I'm sorry, Mom. Please don't make me. I won't do it again. Please? Ok? Please?"

But she was adamant. "Nope. You're not getting out of punishment this time. You've disobeyed me once too often. You forget way too easily. This time it's a full punishment, no skips, no whining me out of it. And an additional punishment for every time you move. You got me?"

The boy hung his head. "Yes ma'am." Then he brightened "but you said 'he' was going to get punished?"

"Yes, for standing in your way and knocking you down. But you're still getting it for 'crossing the grass' which, by the way," she turned to Heero. "includes crossing two major highways and almost half a mile of the airport grounds."

She thumped a chair down in a corner, then pointed to another. "Sit. Thirty minutes. No getting up. Five minutes extra for every time you're up and wandering around. If you got to go, ask.  
Now, like I said. SIT!"

Heero nearly fell onto the chair. James fetched the indicated chair and sullenly flopped into it,  
crossing his arms over his chest and slouching into a full pout.

"Just you remember, young man. Attitude will make or break you. And I've got my eye on the both of you."

Heero planted both feet flat on the floor and sat ram rod straight, thinking furiously.

"Are we allowed to talk?"

"I guess. She'll let us know if we can't. Stupid Mom. I'm old enough to do things. You know. I bet you didn't get stuck in some dumb ol' chair when you were my age."

Heero turned to look at the kid. "No, I didn't get stuck in some chair. My punishments would have killed you. Be glad your Mom loves you enough to worry about you."

"Your Mom must have been a real terror. What'd she do?"

Heero sighed and squirmed. "I don't remember my mother. Just J and . . ." he stopped suddenly,  
knowing that none of the things he'd been about to say were fit for the child's ears. "Never mind just . . . why did you want to see a Gundam pilot?"

The boy gave Heero a look that Duo used often. Heero had catalogued it as 'where's your head.  
Then he rolled his eyes.

"Cause. If it hadn't been for them, we'd be living on L2 in some dump. But we got sent here,  
instead. 'Cause with the allied gone we got freedoms to go where we wanna and be safe and stuff. Don't you know anything?"

Heero shrugged. "All I know is that I'm glad you got freedoms and stuff. My name's Heero Yuy.  
Winner. But that's another story."

The kid got a deer in the headlights look and started to jump out of his chair. Heero stopped him with a steely grip on one wrist. "Your mother said sit. So you sit."

James gulped. "Yes, sir. I . . . wow . . . you're really Heero Yuy? And you're letting my mom make you sit in a chair. That's just . . . fucked up."

Heero turned a cold look on James who paled and gulped. "If I'd spoken like that when I was your age, I'd have been gagged for at least a week. Except for eating."

James nodded, suddenly remembering things he wasn't supposed to have watched. "I saw . . . a little. I was supposed to be in bed, but I had to pee. I think that guy must have been nuts. But. . .  
sometimes bad things happen to good people. My mom says that it's what we learn from it that counts and that bad people get what's coming to them sooner or later."

Heero nodded. "Yeah and this time it was my job to see that it did. We better be quiet. I think your mom is getting pissed. She's doing an awful lot of shifting."

"You can hear her flouncing from here?" another big-eyed look followed this remark.

Heero shrugged. "Yeah. Hush."

"Ok."

They sat for the next twenty five minutes in silence and James didn't squirm that much.

When they were allowed up, Mrs. Frazer smiled at Heero. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?  
You just looked like . . . oh, my. Mr. Yuy."

Heero swiped at his suddenly watering eyes and fled the building at a dead run, completely forgetting about the parts. Luckily, Mrs. Frazer had already had them delivered.

He headed straight for Duo.

Duo met him in the door and wrapped his arms around Heero, crooning comfortingly before he even knew what was going on.

Zechs and Wufei joined them only a few moments later.

"Heero! Tell me what's wrong."

Heero snuggled into the combined embrace of his three friends. "She punished him. It was . . ."

Zechs interrupted. "Heero who punished who and why did it upset you. You have to tell us all of it. Not just bits." Zechs pulled his phone from his pocked and surreptitiously dialed Dr. Terry.

Heero managed to pull himself together enough to tell them the story, ending, "And she just made him sit in a chair. I was so scared. I couldn't have let her hurt him but I . . . interfering between a parent and child . . . that's not good either. It was so strange. She made him sit in a chair. And it was . . . punishment?"

Duo looked over Heero's head at Zechs, who shrugged slightly. "I never had to sit in a chair. I was usually caned. Or made to write lines."

Wufei nodded. "I always had to write lines. My people didn't believe in striking a child no matter what. But my Father could strip the skin off you with a look. And when he decided to lecture me it . . . hurt."

Duo sighed. "Father Maxwell could reduce me to tears with a well-rehearsed sigh. And Sister Helen would only say 'Oh, Duo' in that tone of voice and my heart was broken."

Heero gulped then shuddered.

Duo hugged him harder "Heero, I seriously don't want to know. Just know this. J was a complete nut job. The way he treated you was against more laws than I can count, and several prisoner of war conventions as well." Duo took a deep breath. "I better not get started or I'll go off on a rant that will rival Wufei at his . . . best"

Wufei took a deep breath himself. "Maxwell, I do not rant. That's an injustice. And you're just trying to start something. You're not going to get away with it. I have enough self-control not to let you get me started. Hey!" Wufei swatted at Duo, who'd pulled the elastic off his pony tail. "Come back here. Duo Maxwell, you pickpocket. Heero, if you don't make him stop, you're going to be missing a boyfriend."

Duo took off running, with Wufei right behind him. Heero grumbled, "I better keep them from killing each other." and ran after them. Zechs rubbed his forehead and followed Heero to keep it from degenerating into an all out brawl between the three friends. "And we lost the war to them.  
Oh, god. What are they going to be like in another few years?"

Dr. Terry showed up about twenty minutes later and took Heero off into one of the small offices built on two levels in one corner of the warehouse.

"Heero. Can you explain exactly what happened? This is one of those times when I have to ask you how you feel. And I expect an answer."

Heero had managed, with Duo's help and Wufei's distraction, to get himself under control again.  
So he told the doctor what had happened. He took his time and went into detail.

"And how did you feel when you knew that Mrs. . . . Frazier was going to punish the boy?"

Heero thought carefully this was not the time to be flip with his answers. "I felt sick."

"I see. And your first impulse?"

"Grab the kid and run. But I knew that I couldn't do that. Where would we go? I can hide myself, but not some kid."

Dr. Terry nodded, made a note then smiled gently at Heero. "So you decided to take his punishment instead?"

"Yeah, I'm . . . used to it. I was trained to withstand torture. So . . . " Heero thought carefully "they tortured me as punishment . . . so I'd get used to it."

"There's more, isn't there. You need to confront this or it'll eat you alive. You want to learn about your emotions?" Heero gave a jerky nod. "Then learn. But you have to recognize your feelings."

"Yeah, I know. But it's so hard." Heero shuddered. "All I can think is. I was just a kid. Granted I'd been trained by Oden Low but . . . I was just a kid. How could they do that to a kid? It's not right, no matter what their goals. It wasn't right . . . what they did. If I'd been a grown up,  
they'd never have gotten hold of me. And . . . and . . ." Heero looked at Dr. Terry with haunted eyes. "What if there were more kids than just me. What if . . . what if I'm the only one who survived it. What if they'd gotten hold of Duo, or Wufei . . . Or, god forbid, Quatre. Even Trowa had it better than I did. I just can't help but think sometimes, what if things had been different, if I'd had a family and . . . things. Would I have been able to do what I did? Would I have done better . . . worse? Damnit. I just get so mad sometimes that I can't think at all. I just want to hit something or . . ." Heero shuddered again. "I need to stop now. Please."

Dr. Terry knew when it was time to back off and this was it. "Why don't I go get your friends and we just chill for a while? If you have anything you want to say, just say it. No pressure. I think we've done all we can for now. You need to think about what you feel and . . . sort of, get into it? You know what I mean?" Heero nodded and then gave the doctor a rather tremulous smile. "What?"

"I cried." Heero waited for what Dr. Terry would say.

Dr. Terry just slipped his arms around Heero and hugged him gently. "That's good. You feel better after?"

"I think so. Duo and Wufei started a quarrel and Zechs went along with it . . . they hugged me"  
Heero sighed and pushed away gently. "I think I liked it. I'm so used to touching being painful that I always tense up. Then they get embarrassed. Then I get embarrassed . . . turns into a real mess. But this was good. Thanks."

When Dr. Terry motioned from the door of the office, all the others hurried in to see how Heero was doing. Duo went to him immediately, while Wufei and Zechs hung back to talk to the doctor. After finding out that Dr. Terry felt that this was a significant break through, but also shouldn't be pushed, they gathered around Heero in a gently rocking group hug that left Dr.  
Terry grinning as he left the room.

Zechs hugged Wufei who hugged both Heero and Duo, he felt sad that this had happened, but he knew that Heero had had an amazing break through. Now they had to distract him before he started to brood. That would only slow him down.

"Well, if we're done with the group cuddle, could we get back to work? There's a lot to be done and we don't have much time."

Heero grinned at Zechs over Duo's head. "Yes, we're done." Heero disengaged himself from Duo's arms. Duo whined 'donnwanna.' "Stop whining Duo. We need to get this done. Come on.  
I'm good. Better."

Duo sighed and followed Heero, but not before giving Zechs a slight scowl of discontent. He'd been enjoying hugging, but he knew that they had to get back to work.

They went out into the main warehouse just in time to hear someone declare. "I don't give a damn. I'm supposed to have a Duo Maxwell sign for this and that's what I'm going to do. So if you want this equipment, get him here pronto. I ain't got all day ya know."

Duo hurried over to the open roll up door and held out his hand. "I'm Maxwell."

The delivery man gave him one look and snatched the pad away. He actually held it over his head. "No. Nope. Not a chance. Look kid, I like a joke as well as the next guy. But if I deliver this stuff without a proper signature, it's more than my jobs worth. I got kids your age. So I need Maxwell or I'm out of here."

Duo snarled, reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He yanked his id out of it and handed it to the man. "I'm not going to get into a fight with you. Compare the signatures." Duo reached out and snatched the pad, which the man had lowered. He signed on the line and handed the thing back. "There. Now, I can have it unloaded in five minutes, or I can let you struggle for thirty, what's it going to be?"

The man grumpily compared the signatures and thumb prints by stuffing the id card into a slot on the machine and shifting uneasily as the machine grumbled and beeped. It ejected the card,  
whirred, then beeped again. The screen turned green and the man eyed it like it was broken or something.

"Well, come on. We help or you do it alone." Duo had already lost what patience he had. And he wasn't taking any guff from anyone. Heero walked up behind him and soothed him, gently patting him on the shoulder.

The delivery man sneered, "You two want to turn the fire down to a slow simmer?"

Heero raised his head slowly from where he'd been about to whisper in Duo's ear. Duo just blinked lazily and let Shinigami peek out. Heero's cold glare left nothing to the imagination.

Duo just shrugged. "We'll be over here. Making out. You unload that stuff and put it here." Duo indicated a good staging area for the equipment and walked off pulling Heero with him.

Zechs just crossed his arms and watched the man as he stared after them.

"Who the hell does that kid think he is. I'm old enough to be his father and he disrespects me like that. I'd like to turn him over my knee."

Zechs eyed the man for a second. "I wouldn't advise it. If Heero doesn't break you into little pieces, I will. And that's after Duo gets done. Better get to work if you want to be done today . . .  
. Oh, and be glad that I didn't decide to take a hand. I assure you that you wouldn't have escaped with your skin intact." Zechs turned on his heel and strode after his friends, braid slapping against his ass. Wufei stared after him with a slight smile.

When the driver was finally through unloading the truck, Duo finished with his inventory check and turned to him.

"I hope there's still at least three boxes on that truck. There's supposed to be a desk top computer in there and . . ." Duo consulted his pad. "A box of memory chips . . . and. "Duo paged through the invoice. "A mother board . . . type 3-Leo serial number x-2874639. Better find that stuff quick. Possession of the mother board is a felony, unless you have a license. Which can only be issued to a government agency, a security company, or a construction company. The chips are worth . . . five hundred credits each and the desk top is dedicated to Leo diagnostics programs only."

The driver looked indignant and snarled. "You little fuck. I don't steal. I got a good job and I'm not about to risk it for a bunch of shit I don't know anything about. You got missing inventory,  
go talk to dispatch. I'll wait."

Duo eyed the man for a moment then shrugged. "Ok, I'll just do that." He ignored the muttered 'little shit' and took his phone out of his pocket.

After talking to the dispatcher Duo turned to the man and sighed. "Ok, where else did you stop before you got here?"

"I didn't stop anywhere . . . I . . ." the driver trailed off. "I stopped at home for a second. My wife wanted milk."

Duo yelled at Heero, "Hey. 'Ro. Come here a sec." Then he turned back to the driver. "Look . . .  
Mac. What the hell is your name?"

"George."

Heero walked up and eyed George. "What's up?"

"Missing inventory."

"Where'd you stop?" Heero turned a cold, calculating look on the man. He gulped and stammered, Heero replied. "I. . . I . . . I . . . is not an answer."

George rubbed at his forehead. "I stopped at the local mini mart, got a gallon of milk and took it home. I wasn't in the store for more than five minutes. I didn't even go in the house. I honked and my son came out to get it. There's no way anyone could have gotten anything out of that truck. The seal wasn't broken."

Duo snorted, "I could crack a truck like that by the time I was eight. Heero could do it too." Duo turned to Heero. "Quatre is the only one that might not be able to open that tin can, you think?"

Heero gave Duo a slight smirk. "He could do it. I taught him. That's one of the reasons he's revamping all the delivery trucks. So . . . I'll go to the mini-mart. You see what you can find on the net."

Duo snorted again. "Not a chance. I'm going with you. You'll scare them all into incoherency and we'll never find out anything. Come on."

Heero told the driver to stay right there until they figured out what was going on. Zechs was drawn into the investigation, Duo asked him to get in touch with the dispatcher and tell him what was going on. Wufei grumbled, but subsided when Duo just frowned at him and set him to searching the net

Heero looked at Zechs, "After you talk to the dispatcher, call me. You're coordinator, Ok"  
Zechs nodded. "Duo and I will go to the market and talk to the clerk and anyone else we can think of. I'll call you with all the information we get. After that we'll drive the route and see if there's any place that he could have been ambushed. Any suggestions?"

Zechs thought for a moment, then shook his head. Wufei asked if there were any places where there was a chance of being held up for a long time. George stammered. He couldn't help it.  
These boys had gone from a bunch of fresh faced kids to grim faced, and very scary, solders in the blink of an eye.

Heero and Duo left, with Duo grumbling at the choice of cars. He'd finally gotten a drivers license, but not the much coveted sports car. So he had the choice of a well-worn pickup or a jeep.

Duo drove because he announced that he didn't care if Heero had a license or not, he couldn't drive worth a damn. Heero scowled back at him and declared that Duo drove like he was the only one on the road. They bickered back and forth until they got to the mini mart.

Heero glanced at Duo. They both looked like kids in jeans, T-shirt, and trainers. They didn't inspire awe or confidence. At least Heero didn't think they did. Duo had other ideas.

"We're going to have trouble. We don't look like anyone who should be asking questions about who was messing with a truck."

Duo shrugged. "You go chat up the checker. Buy something and complain about that truck being in the parking lot earlier. Don't glare at her, she'll probably tell you something. She's got to be bored by now. I'll check around and see if I can't scare up some loiterers, they see things that they don't know are important. If we don't get anything here, we'll drive the rest of the route.  
See if we can't figure out something. Go."

Heero slouched into the market and wandered up and down the rows for a few moments like he was shopping. He kept an eye on the lady behind the register and saw that she was indeed bored out of her skull. All he would have to do was make the casual remarks that Duo had suggested and wait for her to talk his ear off.

Which was exactly what happened.

When he finished making his selections he took everything to the checkout and grumbled, "Man,  
I'm about starved. We came by earlier, but there was this big truck right in the middle of the lot and we couldn't even get in. My buddy didn't want to wait for him to move. Who knows how long that . . . he's got potty mouth. But any way. We left to check out stuff and just got back."

The clerk brightened happily. She was bored and snatched at the opportunity to talk to someone.

"Yeah, he stopped in about nine this morning, he only stayed about fifteen minutes. He picked up some milk, a coffee, and a sweet roll. . . oh, and a paper. You should have just honked, he's real good about moving the truck if he's in the way. He's a great guy . . . but than son of his.  
He's another story altogether. Little creep shoplifts out of here like it was his own pantry. We call, he comes and pays for the stuff. The boss is just about worn out with it. He says the next time just call the cops and let the chips fall where they may. I'll be glad to. His attitude sucks big time."

She finished scanning Heero's items and waited while he swiped his bank card, then started bagging the things up.

"You see that boy around this morning? I bet it's really hard to keep an eye on him while you're busy."

Heero tried out his sympathetic look, but at the startled expression on the checkers face turned it into a grimace before he scared her off.

"You ok honey? You didn't look too good there for a second."

Heero shrugged "Hunger pang. I missed supper and this is breakfast."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry you couldn't get in. But to answer your question. He wasn't here this morning, he's grounded for two weeks. I wish they'd ground him for the rest of his life. Little smart ass. As if I don't have enough trouble with the grownups, and they've usually got a reason to be pissy." She finished bagging and handed the food to Heero. "Here you go. And I'll have to say, I'm glad to see that someone as young as you eats . . . fairly well. Can't eat really well buying stuff in a convenience store. But fruit and juice is good. Those nutri bars are good for you but . . . if they could make them taste any worse I think they would. Well, have a nice day."

Heero thanked her and walked out the door with a satisfied smile on his face. He'd actually managed to pump someone without scaring them half to death. Duo would be so proud of him.

Duo wandered into the back of the lot and settled into a shady spot beside two boys about his age and flopped down with a groan.

"I'm so hungry. I hope Heero hurries up. He'll want to visit and I'm starving. We came by earlier but there was this huge freakin' truck right in the middle of the drive. What's up with that? Deliveries right at the busiest time of day."

One of the boys snickered. "That was George. He's so pussy whipped it's funny."

The other boy shrugged. "You see her? She can whip me any day."

Duo made big eyes. "She's that gorgeous? Wow, but he just parks in the middle of the drive and lets the truck sit. Isn't that dangerous? What if someone . . . did something?"

Duo rolled his head to look at the guys. They either shrugged or shook a head.

"Naw. No one around here would do much. It's too easy to see. And see? Right there. There's usually a cop there with a speed gun." The older of the two boys pointed at the corner down the street.

The other boy had been looking at Duo with a strange expression on his face. "Look, I don't want to make you mad, but do I know you? You in my math class or something?"

Duo looked at them for a moment, then decided that he was going to get more information if he was honest with them. They already had an idea who he was, so no damage done.

"No, I'm not in your math class. Or English, or anything else."

Heero walked up just then and handed Duo the bag of breakfast foods. He settled down behind Duo and reached over his shoulder to help himself to his portion of the contents of the bag.

Both the strange boys looked wide eyed at them as they sat together munching on sweet rolls and fruit.

Heero sipped at his juice and eyed the boys carefully, they looked like they were about to run, or faint.

"You guys ok?"

"You're . . . and he's . . . oh, man. Wait til I tell my brother. He'll shit. My mom will go postal.  
Can I have your autographs? Please?"

Heero nearly choked on his juice. Duo started laughing, he laughed so hard he had to lie back and hold his stomach.

"Well, I'm glad I'm funny. Give you a real charge. Sorry I'm so . . ."

Duo sprang up shaking his head. "No! Man, I'm sorry. I don't think you're funny. It's . . . well,  
it's a change from having people look at us like we're about to whip out a gun and shoot everyone in sight, or treat us like we're poor abused little boys who need a mommy. Just . . .  
sorry. Here, what do you want me to autograph?"

The boy looked around. "Here, how about this. You could both sign it and I can get it framed."

The kid handed Duo a magazine center fold of all the Gundams. Duo signed and handed it to Heero to sign.

"So . . . tell us about the truck."

So the boys told Duo and Heero the same story that the clerk had told with some additions.

"But that son of Georges' is a real creep. He's a bully and a thief. He got suspended for three days for stealing stuff from the chem. lab and from the shop. He made some sort of pliers thing but they didn't catch him at that. He's just fucked. He thinks he's the next godfather or something."

Duo made a face, Heero just went 'hn' and started thinking.

Duo continued to blatantly pump the two boys, who were delighted to not only help a couple of real Gundam pilots, but get someone they disliked in trouble.

"So . . . we better get on the road." Duo stood up brushing off the seat of his pants. "Thanks,  
guys. Oh, if you think of anything else. Call this number, ask for Zechs and tell him who you are.  
He'll take the information." Duo gave them both a sharp look. "And don't call just to prove you can. Ok? We don't have the time for ego boosting."

Heero stood, gathering up the wrappers and bottles as he did so. He stuffed all the trash into the sack and looked for a trash can. One of the boys offered to take care of it for him, so he just handed it over with a soft thanks.

As they walked away Heero's sharp ears over heard, "Wow, they act just like everybody else.  
Great and look . . . they both autographed it. This is great."

"Yeah. And . . . wow . . . just . . . wow. They're just like us. Look at that jeep they're driving. It's crap . . . ."

Heero settled into the jeep and wished he could have walked just a little slower. Maybe he could have heard something worth hearing. Then he thought that what he had heard was well worth hearing. He turned to Duo and told him what he'd done and what he'd heard.

Duo was delighted that he'd managed to pump the clerk and also that two 'normal' boys thought that they were like them.

"We're getting somewhere. I'm not sure where. But, hey, we're reaching the much vaunted 'functional'"

Heero grunted. 'Ya think?' then settled in to carefully scan the area, as Duo drove the route the driver had covered on the way to the warehouse.

"What I'd like to know is how some newbie got around the seal. You have to have a sophisticated cutter to get it off without defacing the seal number . . . " Duo swore softly. "Fuck,  
Heero call Zechs and have him check to see if the seal number matches the invoice number. We worried about stuff like that but civilians might not."

Heero dug out his phone and made the call. He waited while Zechs checked the seal from the truck door and the invoice. He came back and told Heero that there wasn't a number on the seal,  
just a dent where the number should be.

"Ok, we got something there. I'm not sure what but something . . . Heero? " Heero turned his head to look at Duo. "Who would want that stuff any way? It's useless to anyone but us. So . . .  
what gives?"

Heero thought. "If the boxes were marked 'mother board', and 'memory modules'. Someone who knew about computers might want them, not knowing that they are dedicated. And that computer looks like a regular desk top. Diagnostic computers don't look different from regular ones. And it's cheaper to make them from standard parts. It's all in the programming, you know.  
And it makes it easier to upgrade the programs if you don't have to make a bunch of nonstandard disks. Someone who knew about the contents of the truck did it."

Duo sighed "That son is looking better and better. He's crooked, smart and not street wise. We need to figure out how he did it . . . .un . . . Heero? What's grounded got to do with a person?"

"Don't know. From the way he was talking, it doesn't have anything to do with electricity. Two weeks. Some sort of punishment? But . . . I'm calling Dr. Terry, he'll know. And he won't laugh because we don't."

So Heero called Dr. Terry and snickered when the doctor asked who was trying to ground them.  
When Heero told him what was going on, Dr. Terry congratulated Heero on his successful pumping and told him to call again if he had any more questions.

"Well, what's grounding. And does it hurt? Doubt it, if it's considered a safe punishment."

"It's juvenile house arrest. He can't go out except to school and can't have any friends in. But that doesn't mean that he's not in contact with someone. We need to look into this for sure."

Duo thought for a block then snarled. "I bet I got it pegged. He made a seal clamp with a blank or defaced number area." Heero nodded, remembering the remark about 'some pliers thing'  
"Wouldn't have worked for us, but there you are. Civilians and military are different enough that it should work. He's got an outside contact that did the grunt work. He's the mastermind.  
Wonder how many times he's gotten away with this."

Heero grunted, "No idea. But not many or someone else would be on this case already. Stop a minute."

Duo pulled over and waited while Heero got out, looked around, then just stood for a moment.

"This isn't the way he went. Truck's too tall to go under that overpass."

Duo pulled out his laptop and opened it. He punched in a request for the map he'd been sent.

"Nope, couldn't be. There's two overpasses that are too short. It's the shortest route, so that's the one they assigned him. This system is shit. Let me . . . ok. He went home, then to the warehouse."

Duo typed for a moment then shut down the laser keyboard and waited for the unit to process.  
When it was done Heero looked over Duo's shoulder, taking the opportunity to kiss Duo on the neck.

"Hold that thought. And lookie here. He went home, then he went to our warehouse. So he had to go this way." Duo tapped the little spyglass sign until the map expanded to the extent the monitor would allow. He traced the path with a finger and snorted. "One, he went roundabout.  
Two, look here. He went through this tunnel and there's a railroad crossing just here. Wonder. .  
." Duo called Zechs to see if he could find out if a train went through that crossing on any set schedule.

When they found out that one had, Duo looked at Heero. "We're going to have to do some more recon. You know that don't you?"

Heero put his arm over the back of the drivers' seat and around Duo's shoulders. He smirked at Duo and told him he was looking forward to it. Duo didn't think he was talking about just recon.

They drove over the entire route with frequent calls to Zechs to check in, the last call was interesting. Wufei had finally found something on the net. There was an offer on one of the electronics sales boards of almost exactly what was stolen. Although the descriptions were different, the pictures were plainly their missing items.

Wufei told Duo that he'd put a hold on the merchandise, contacting the moderators and telling them that the stuff was stolen. That had caused a flap on their end with a flurry of mails back and forth. When the delivery company got involved, they put a freeze on any sale until the merchandise could be inspected. Whoever was trying to sell it now knew that it was hotter than hot. They were also aware that the theft had been discovered and they were well on their way to being found.

Heero snarled along with Wufei. "I had hoped to keep it under wraps for a little while longer.  
Now we really have to hurry, or they may decide to get rid of the stuff. I'm so gonna smack him if it turns out to be that kid."

Duo shrugged. "This time we call the law. It's on our side for once. In fact, we really should have a cop with us right now. What do you think?"

Heero shrugged. "Want to call now? Or wait until we have something solid to show."

"Don't know." Duo shrugged. "Call Zechs and see what he thinks. He's used to being on the right side of the law. He's liable to be a little more objective."

Zechs hung up the phone and turned to Wufei. "The officer wants to interview George. He's on his way over here now. What have you found out from the auction house?"

Wufei sighed and rubbed his forehead. Well, it's no ebay. But it's not entirely fly by night. They don't want anything to do with it, now that the merchandise is suspect, but they've blown our cover. The minute they were sure that it was hot, they froze the account and demanded right of inspection. We're fucked."

Zechs swore and kicked a stool into the darkness of the warehouse. "Ok. When that cop gets here, hand George to him and wait for instructions."

Wufei just nodded and went back to his computer to see what else he could accomplish.

With a little thought, he managed to cover the fact that the auction had frozen the account and talk the server into allowing him to try to trace the incoming messages. He wished for Heero, but got it done himself. Much to Zechs's amazement.

"Well, that's a relief. If you covered up well enough, we could have enough lee way to catch the thief. You did quite well. I don't know why you're always saying Heero does it better. You're very good."

"Heero's better. And so is Duo. Either one of them would have done the job in half the time."

Zechs made a sharp sweeping motion with one arm. "Will you quit that? You're quite a scholar,  
very smart. And a little too self effacing. Please take a compliment."

Wufei blushed with happiness. "Well then, I will. Thank you for the compliment, kind sir."

Zechs smiled "Noblesse oblige."

Wufei made a face. "The obligation of the lord. Please spare me."

"Something?"

"I am the Sun of the Dragon Clan"

"I understand what it is to be the last son of a family."

Wufei sighed and let his shoulders slump. "I'm so tired . . ." he put his face in his hands and rubbed it.

Zechs settled into a nearby broken-down easy chair. He gently pulled Wufei into his lap. "Ok Wenlong. Explain yourself."

Wufei stiffened at first, but relaxed as Zechs gently rubbed his back in small comforting circles.

"I'm the S-u-n of the Dragon clan. Not s-o-n" Wufei spelled the words. "I'm the last hope of my clan. Believe it or not, I'm the eldest of the eldest. The title has little to do with age, and a great deal to do with family ties and blood lines. So, while I'm completely incapable of taking over the reins of power, I'm being pressured to do so. I've turned them down time and time again. How they can expect me to run a clan, I don't know. And I don't care. I won't do it, but I still feel guilty and . . . I'm just tired of it all. I want to be left alone to lead my own life. But the other elders are trying to pressure me into marrying and bearing a new heir to the Clan."

Zechs kept rubbing Wufei's back and started planning. This was not good. Wufei wasn't up to running a clan, no matter what the other elders might think. And they could very well force Wufei into ruining his life entirely. All they had to do was 'play the honor card' and they might just manage it. To the detriment of the clan as well as Wufei.

"And how do they intend to get an heir out of you. Gay here. Or don't they care."

"They don't care, they keep talking about honor and duty and obligation. But . . . DAMNIT. I already gave them all I am, all I could have been. And they want more? They can just go . . . "

"Piss up a rope." Zechs held Wufei tightly before he could jump up and run. "Now. Think.  
You've told them that you won't do what they want. So, how do we convince them. And what did you want. How do you get it?"

Wufei settled against Zechs and sighed. "I want what Duo has. What Quatre has. And I want to go back to school. Not that high school crap. I've got at least three degrees. All I have to do is write my thesis. That's what I want to do. Write my theses. Get my degrees and . . . do something besides regret."

"We'll see what we can do then." Zechs looked at Wufei's computer, which was still setting on the scared table. "I think you're wanted. Something is blinking."

Wufei went to the table and settled at the computer again. He started tracking Duo's GPS signal just to be doing something useful, instead of worrying. He didn't like having Heero out of his sight, it wasn't anything to do with the fact that both Zechs and Heero were still technically prisoners. He just had missed him so much he hated to let him out of his sight.

Zechs put his arm around Wufei's shoulders. "Something wrong?"

"No, just feeling . . . old womanish, I guess. Don't like having Heero out of my sight. But the only way to keep him and Duo from going out would have been to chain them both to the central pillar . . . and strip search them both for explosives."

Zechs bit his lip at the image that pronouncement had created in his head and sighed. "Doesn't sound that bad to me."

Wufei gave Zechs a side ways look from under his lashes. "Yeah, but Duo would just rattle the chains until Heero . . . " his face turned a dull brick red. "Shutting up now."

Zechs tried, really he did, but he couldn't help it. He started laughing, the merry sound echoed around the warehouse making some of the men turn their heads to look. He laughed until tears ran down his face.

When he finally recovered, he looked at Wufei who had also burst out laughing. "I never knew you had a kink. 'Fei, you should have told me."

Wufei just shrugged. "I told you, I'm very well trained in sexually satisfying my partner. Very well trained."

Zechs covered his eyes with a groan.

Half an hour later, all the fun was leached out of the day. The detective assigned to the case wasn't happy. He had taken one look a Wufei and turned an alarming shade of red.

"Excuse me but am I here investigating, or rather, trying to verify, the theft of several thousand .  
. . euros worth of computer equipment on the word of a boy? If this is some kind of prank . . ."

Zechs stepped forward. "Officer, I assure you that it's no prank. I'll show you the invoices and check lists myself." Zechs made a face. "Ah . . . I'm sorry. Colonel Merquise. At your service."

"Sorry. Detective Peterson. And he is . . . "

Wufei rose from his chair. "Chang Wufei. Major. Retired. When you're through checking that paperwork, I have some things you'll be interested in."

Detective Peterson blinked for a moment, then gulped as his brain processed exactly who he was dealing with.

"Un. And my boss said you already had someone running down clues? Who, if I might make so bold as to ask?"

Zechs smirked at his expression. "Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell."

"Oh shit."

"Please." Zechs raised a hand. "Their reputation for blowing things up is sadly over exaggerated."

Wufei just muttered "deserved" and turned to his computer again. 


	25. Duo of All Trades: Part II

The Price 25: Duo of All Trades: Part II

The Price They Paid: Duo of All Trades: Part II

Betaed by Skippyscatt

The detective spent an hour going over all the data and invoices. His final decision was that he was grilling George like a cheese sandwich. After twenty minutes of talking to George, Detective Peterson was ready to throw the book at him. He'd admitted to stopping at the mini mart for at least twenty minutes then having to circle around because the overpasses were too low. Then he'd gone home with the milk because he was afraid it would sour.

"So he honked, but when his son didn't come out he went in. When he got back to the truck, his son was in it looking through the invoices. That boy has a bad reputation. And he's expelled right now. And grounded but that doesn't mean much. George says that his wife doesn't see the sense in keeping the boy off line. By the way his name is Anthony. Only George says it's Junior. And I don't like any of this."

The detective gave a snort as he finished his rundown.

Wufei gritted his teeth and looked at Zechs. "So now what?"

Zechs picked at his lower lip as he thought. "Well, first we get in touch with Duo and see what he and Heero think. Then we make a plan. Which should include grilling young Junior like a cheap steak. What do you think?"

Wufei made a face. "I think the boy has absolutely no honor at all. To put his father in such a position. George isn't a bad man. Just foolish. In love with his wife and trusting his son. At the very least he's going to lose his job. And he might face charges. We need to . . . No, send Heero to speak to him. Heero will scare the piss out of him and get answers. You can bet on it."

Zechs snickered which brought Detective Peterson's attention back to him.

"Something funny? I could use a laugh."

Zechs twinkled at the man. His blue eyes lighting up his whole face, Wufei stared. "Picture Heero Yuy interrogating a normal fifteen year old. With Duo Maxwell backing him up."

Peterson blinked for a moment, then he smiled. "Oh, fuck! I like it."

Duo listened to Zechs for a second, then demanded to talk to the detective. After speaking to him Duo thought for a few moments.

"Heero, do you . . . I think . . . oh, man"

Heero smirked. "The detective wants me to interrogate the boy."

Duo nodded. "Yeah. You heard?"

Heero shrugged. "He talks loud."

After they had driven for a few moments, Duo took a quick peek at Heero. "You gonna?"

"Keep your eyes on the road. Yeah, I am."

"Good cop, bad cop?"

Heero shook his head. "No, bad cop, fucked up cop."

Duo thought about that one for a while. "But the detective thought that you would be the one . . . oh, you so did not . . ."

Heero looked out the windshield. "I'm not the one with the really crazy laugh."

"Shit you're not." Duo's indignant reply made Heero snicker.

"You've never heard yourself."

"Yah? But I've heard you."

"Sanity thy name is not Gundam pilot."

Duo just shook his head.

When they reached George's house, they were met by a tall heavy set man who introduced himself as Detective Peterson's partner, Senior Detective Anderson. Duo shrank back slightly against Heero, who just put his arm around Duo's waist.

"Something wrong?" The S.D. let his hand drop.

Duo shuddered then admitted that he was a little nervous around really large men.

"Oh, sorry. Look, I got my own ideas of what is right and wrong. And . . . between us and the lamp post?"

Duo and Heero both nodded.

"I was resistance. Embedded in the department early in the war. You two got a raw deal all the way around. So . . . I'll do whatever I need to make you both comfortable. What do I do?"

Heero eyed the man for a moment. "Treat us like . . . veterans of combat. Don't sneak up on us. Move too quick. Or . . . hover? . . . over us. Understand?"

S.D. Anderson nodded. "Sure do. You got it. Now, on to business at hand. How do you want to play this?"

Duo bit at his lip while he thought. "Well . . . I figure that . . . what is that little pricks name? Can't keep thinking of him as 'the little prick' "

The detective consulted his notes. "His name is . . . not too surprising. . . George jr. he's called Junior. No wonder the kid turned out to be a menace."

Duo looked at Heero who shrugged. "Don't look at me. All I want from the sneak is our parts"

So they went to the door and knocked.

When the door opened Duo blinked, the lady was very pretty and way too young to be the mother of a fifteen-year-old. 'Step' popped into his head.

Detective Anderson talked to Mrs. George, whose last name had turned out to be Smith. Her first name was Betty. She admitted that she couldn't do a thing with _him_, no matter what she tried. Gorge Sr. undermined her at every turn, telling her 'boys will be boys'. All she wanted was peace in her house.

When the detective asked if his partners could talk to Junior she just pointed up the stairs and went into the kitchen, offering to make coffee.

Duo nodded to Det. Anderson and told him to drink coffee with the woman and see whatelse he could find out.

Heero and Duo went up the stairs and walked into Juniors room, without knocking.

"Hey! Who the hell are you? And what do you think you're doing?"

This was said to Duo, who'd sat down at the computer and started looking for anything that would tell them where their parts were.

Heero intercepted Junior before he could try to pull Duo away from the desk.

"Wouldn't do that if I was you. He doesn't like being touched much. Sit."

Heero just tossed Junior back onto the bed he'd been lounging on.

"Fuck you!"

"No thanks. You're too ugly. Where's the stuff?"

Junior tried to look innocent. "What stuff?"

"Heeeeerrroooo! I wanna . . ."

"NO! Sit." Heero turned back to Junior, who was starting to look nervous, Duo's sing song 'Heero' had been really scary. "You better start talking. He's high strung, and I'm not in the mood to fuck with you. In any way. So, again, where's the stuff."

Duo snorted. "He won't tell. He's too stupid. Can I cut off something?"

Heero gave Junior a glare, then turned to Duo with a soft sigh. "Last time I let you cut something you cut out the guys tongue How the hell is a guy supposed to talk without a tongue? Just sit there and hack."

Duo tittered softly. "But I wanna. Oh, hey. I know. Lets cut off. . . "

Heero interrupted again. "I. Said. No." He turned back to Junior who was now looking really scared. "You know, I'm supposed to be the crazy one. But Shinigami has come out to play and he wants to play with you. You wanna?" Juniors eyes widened, he shook his head frantically. "Didn't think so. Now where's our stuff. Last time I ask. No answer in three seconds and I let Duo have you. Two. . ."

"OK, ok, ok. I'll tell you. But I gotta know what stuff you mean. I . . . oh, fuck. You're both Gundam pilots. Fuckfuckfuck. I'm so screwed. I'm dead. My dad will kill me and send me to juvie. Please don't hurt me. I'm a dead mo. . . "

"Do _not_ say it." Heero particularly hated that phrase. "You tell us who your contacts are. You get all our components back and we'll see what we can do. But you mess with me and I will let Duo have you. You'll be cat meat by the time he's done with you." Duos' eerie laugh made Junior cringe.

By the time Junior was done talking, they knew everything he knew.

He had made a copy of the impression on a seal on his fathers truck, leaving the number area blank. He'd stolen some seals as well.

He also knew the routes his father had to use because of the low overpasses. He'd looked up the train schedule after George Sr. had complained about having to sit in a tunnel while he waited for the train to pass.

Then all he had to do was sneaks a look at the electronic invoice pad to see what he was hauling. Then he'd alert his cohorts when to strike.

Heero glared at him until he started to snivel. Duo, usually so good natured, just snarled and kept trying to find out what had happened to the parts.

Mean while, Detective Anderson was having troubles of his own. Betty just didn't understand how serious this was. And she didn't want to.

"Look, Ma'am. I'm sure you do the best you can. But he's in serious trouble, and so's your husband. He wasn't supposed to leave his assigned route, except with the permission of the dispatcher. He should have reported those low overpasses and had his routes adjusted to compensate. But he was using them as a foil, so that he could come by here and . . . what . . . play kissy face with you? What ever. He's probably going to loose his job over this. So if you'd just try to help us out, maybe I could put in a good word for him with his job."

Betty tried crying but the detective was used to that and didn't let up. When she finally broke, she admitted that she didn't even try to find out what Junior was doing, as long as he left her alone she was happy. They didn't get along at all. George Sr, as she'd said before, didn't help matters any either.

"I don't want to take his mother's place, all I want is a place of my own. Is that so bad? But neither of them listen to me or each other. I love George, I really do, but this is just about too much. Police in my house. And those two boys aren't normal, they don't look that much older that Georgie, but if that isn't Heero Yuy I miss my guess. So. Take him away or what ever. Just don't ask me any questions, because I don't have any idea what he's been up to. And clear out the garden shed too."

Anderson got a very unhappy feeling in his gut, and his gut was never wrong. So he went out to the garden shed, opened the door and groaned. It was full of unidentified cans and bottles.

None of them had labels but the smell was unmistakable. This was a lab. He wasn't sure exactly what was being made, yet.

Anderson called dispatch and was told that the only expert the department had was on a call and wouldn't be available until the next day. He swore. He had to get this done before George Sr kicked over the traces. If he did, they would have to go to court and get an order. Evidence could be lost.

So Senior Detective Anderson went up the stairs in the prime suspect's house and appealed to two seventeen year old, now anti, terrorists for help.

Duo rubbed the back of his neck and swore, Heero just nodded.

The garden shed was a design that was so old its origins were lost. It was a sheet steel over two-by-four building about twelve by twelve, with shelves around three sides. It contained one lawn mower, one garden cart and enough illegal chemicals to blow up approximately eight square blocks.

"Fuck"

Heero sighed. "Me too."

Duo ran his hand through his bangs and then puffed out his cheeks and blew out his breath, making a soft Pupp-pupp-pupp sound.

"Anderson, call in . . . never mind I'll call." Duo pulled out his cell and called Mr. Lyons. "Lyons. Pull out the official voice and call the bio-hazards group. We got a real mess here. Half the stuff is out dated and unstable. The rest is just dangerous. Get in a disposal unit right now."

Mr. Lyons reply was lost to everyone but Heero, since it was just profanity it didn't make much difference. Duo gave the address and hung up.

Detective Anderson called his boss and filled him in. When he hung up, he turned to Heero and told him that the higher up had put Duo in charge, saying that he had the experience to take care of the hazmat removal. Anderson swore and snapped the phone shut.

"Ok, I don't like this at all. My boss says that you're capable of handling the removal, but . . . don't be offended . . .you're so young. What experience could you have in handling explosives of this sort? Some of those chemicals are really old and very volatile."

Duo started to bristle but looked at the man's face and realized that he wasn't getting smart, he was really worried. So Duo explained that he was the explosives expert with Heero a close second. Duo thought for a second then allowed that Trowa was as good as Heero. The detective sighed and got out of the way.

When the truck arrived, so did George Sr. With a lawyer, a company representative and a Preventer. All in their own cars.

Duo watched with some amusement as Heero directed traffic with a serious expression that belied the fact that he was sure no one would obey him. Duo knew different.

Then Zechs and Wufei arrived with Detective Peterson, who went to his partner to compare notes and frowns.

Duo went to the truck and spoke to the disposal experts. Then he rounded up Wufei and Zechs, gathering Heero, he urged them into the kitchen for a quick talk.

"This kid is in something up to his eyeballs. I'm not sure what. But what would he want with Leo parts and all those chemicals. They're the kicker. He can make explosives, or drugs. Some of the designer drugs are really easy to make. If you aren't worried about purity. Zechs?"

Zechs shrugged. "I'd like to talk to him before I make any decisions. But this isn't getting us back our parts."

Duo sighed. "I know. But this is really big."

Heero shook his head. "Not our responsibility. Getting rid of the chemicals is. But we're not police, let them take care of their business."

Wufei nodded. "We stay out of it. It's not our job to bust some kid for whatever he's into. All we need is the parts."

Duo grumbled a little but finally allowed that it really wasn't their business and was better left up to the experts. They'd done all they could by exposing the mess.

"But I still can't help feeling that we should have known or done or . . . well, shit. I can't explain it."

Zechs smiled at Duo and decided to just let it go. He could try to explain that the feeling of duty was something that all warriors felt. The need to protect. But not just now, and perhaps not ever. It depended on many things, what happened next. Zechs watched as the three boys turned to present a united front to the two detectives. Who turned out not to be the threat they expected.

The lawyer sputtered objecting to having the chemicals removed from the shed until they were proven to be dangerous. And he objected to Duo being the overseer. He wanted to see his credentials.

Duo handed him his drivers license.

"This is a driver's license. What does it prove besides the fact that you're old enough to drive. . . Mr. Maxwell?"

Duo just smirked at him. "I'd suggest you think about the name then get your client to tell us where the Leo parts are before I turn this whole mess over to . . ." Duo stopped to think about who he should turn it over to.

"Lady Une." Zechs blinked as Duo flinched visibly.

"Where? I mean, you think?"

Zechs nodded. "Yes, I do think. And she's in the driveway."

Duo made a choking sound and took off. He ran through the house and out into the back yard, straight into Heero's arms. Right in front of the hazmat team and two detectives and a Captain of Preventers.

"Duo, what is it?"

"Une."

"No, she's in . . ."

A voice from behind Heero said. "Right here."

The only thing that kept Duo from running again was Heero's steely grip.

Une walked around them until she could look Heero in the eyes. "I won't apologize for anything, but I will say that I always respected you. Now . . . we have a situation here. Mr. Maxwell, when you are through freaking out I need you to supervise the removal and inventory. Mr. Yuy, will you act as liaison between Mr. Maxwell and the disposal chief. I understand that Chang is here?"

Wufei spoke from behind Lady Une. "Yes, I am here. And I wish you weren't. We have enough troubles without Duo having a flash back. Please leave now."

Une didn't even blink. "I wanted to take this opportunity to offer you places in Preventers."

Wufei sniffed disdainfully. "Not a chance. I have much better things to do than be your lap dog."

Heero grunted and pulled Duo away before he did freak out completely. He was shaking hard and needed to get away from the sound of her voice at once.

Zechs touched Lady Une on the arm and shook his head at her. "Let them go. If you really want them, you'll have to wait. They're not ready yet. Perhaps they never will be. Come, I'll fill you in on everything I know."

Heero took Duo to the garden shed and got him settled with the chief of the hazmat team, who took one look at Duo and grinned.

"Hey, Chief Disposal Expert McIntosh. Thanks for finding this mess. We got . . ." The man eyed the sky. ". . . about five hours before the sun's down. I'd like to get this done in one. Ok?"

Duo nodded. "You know me?"

"Yeah. And you all got a raw deal. So, I'll just pretend I don't know how old you are and we can get started on this. I understand that you can identify stuff from sight and smell?"

Duo shrugged. "Some stuff. If I can't identify it, we'll just assume it's corrosive. Ok?"

The Chief nodded and handed Duo a writing pad. "You want to do inventory by hand or would you rather use a secretary/recorder."

Duo grinned, told the man that his hand writing was worse than a doctors and handed the pad to Heero. The Chief blinked, muttered, "Why would I think they'd be separated now?" and started putting on a hazmat suit.

It took them almost three hours to remove, catalogue and dispose of all the chemicals in the shed. In the process Duo figured out what the kid had been doing.

He was making designer drugs and explosives. Duo sighed, the kid was in big trouble and showed not a particle of remorse.

Heero offered to talk to him again but the lawyer, who'd wandered over to see what his client had been up to, announced that he wasn't talking to anyone until he was properly booked.

Heero shrugged. He didn't see that booking would hurt the kid much. And maybe it would wake him up to how serious this was. But he doubted it. He'd already heard the 'I'm a minor, they can't do anything to me' line.

The chaos surrounding the operation was controlled to some extent. Wufei and Zechs coordinated with Lady Une and the other Preventer officer to keep things under some control, but the neighbors wanted information.

And soon reporters showed up. Lady Une growled, she could see her chance at getting any of the pilots disappearing into the distance.

The pushing, shoving, shouting reporters were soon removed to a safe distance, despite Wufei's mild but pointed remark that they should be allowed to stay incase anything blew up, as he was sure that they would want to be the first on site. Zechs stifled a snort and managed to keep a straight face as he enforced the removal with his presence.

Une managed to get a few moments with Wufei, but got no satisfaction. When she told him that she wanted him for Preventers, all he would say was that she should have thought of that sooner. Then he floored her by remarking sourly that he wasn't 'convenient' and wasn't going to be a 'tux monkey' for anyone. Then he strode away to speak to one of the detectives.

Zechs was polite but firm, saying only that no reputable law enforcement body wanted the 'half-cracked prince' and he refused to talk about Zero at all. His firm statement that he had managed to work his way through its effects and wasn't about to rake over cold coals stopped her in her tracks. Especially after she saw his eyes. When he got that look in his eyes she knew that it was much better to drop a subject rather than be subjected to one of his cutting lectures.

Wufei watched from his place beside the detective. He wondered what Une had said to Zechs to put that particular look on his face.

Detective Anderson, noticing the direction of his gaze followed it and sighed. "I hope they still like each other, at least a little bit." Wufei merely raised an eyebrow. "Otherwise, I don't think the lady is going to come out of that confrontation in one piece. Colonel Merquise is well known for a temper and some pretty scathing remarks when he gets that look. I think I'll find something of interest far away."

"That bad?" Wufei wasn't sure if he should worry about Une or cheer Zechs on.

"He can be, and with what's been going on for the last two years. I wouldn't put it past him to be in a permanently bad mood." Anderson smiled at Wufei. "I know you're one of the pilots. And don't look at me like that. I couldn't care less. You did your duty when you shouldn't have had a duty to do. So . . . let's go find some . . . coffee? . . . tea? And leave the master chiller to it, shall we?"

Wufei gave Zechs one more backward glance, but decided that he was a grown man and could fight his own battles.

Heero was having all he could do to keep up with Duo. He was smelling and poking at bottles and tins and snarling at the lawyer, who seemed determined to arouse Shinigami. Heero finally simply told him to get out of the way or he'd break his leg. The lawyer started to say something but caught a good look at Heero's glare and decided to go away to call someone. Heero snorted and went back to recording what Duo was telling him.

As they identified the various fluids, Duo got madder and madder. When they finally got it all catalogued, he sat next to Heero and snarled. "I've never seen such a mess in all my life. We got accused of being callous to the safety of the civilians around us but we never put anyone in as much jeopardy as this little asshole. If that shed had gotten too hot, an eight-block radius would have been blown to smithereens. Son of a bitch." He blew his bangs off his forehead and went to consult with the chief of the disposal unit about final disposition.

Neither of them realized that some sound man had a dish microphone pointed at them and had recorded that whole remark. Not that that was a bad thing.

The last thing they did before they went home was to give the public relations expert a statement that he could interpret any way he wanted to. He was one of those shiny types that look good in uniform and speak well, no matter what. The reporters fell on him with glad cries and thrusting microphones. He held center stage while Zechs, Heero, Wufei and Duo slipped away, leaving a fuming Lady Une behind.

Back at the warehouse Duo flopped down in the desk chair, "Well, wasn't that a trip and a half. But what about our parts? We still need them and if the cops impound them as evidence, we're fucked. I can't make the components in time to do us any good."

Heero snarled, "That little piss pot isn't going to tell anything any time soon. So we find his cohorts ourselves and take the parts back."

Zechs shrugged. "And how do we find them?"

Wufei smirked, Heero would find them. "Leave that to Heero. We need to start on dismantling those servos and rewiring things."

Zechs looked at his watch and remarked that it was way too late to start on that now. One of the crewmen stood just out of threat zone and called to him.

When they all looked over to see what he wanted, he told them that they'd already taken all the servos apart and were just waiting for further orders. Heero looked at Duo and mouthed, 'we forgot about them.'

Duo just jumped up and hurried out to look at what the other crew members had accomplished while they were trying to find the parts. They'd taken all the servos and disassembled them, putting the parts in groups according to type. They'd also stripped out the wiring in sections instead of just pulling it out.

Duo examined the table where they'd put the wiring harnesses.

The man shuffled his feet. "I thought that we could just redo the harness by matching lengths and colors. We don't really have to know where or what. Do we?"

Duo looked over his shoulder at Heero who just shrugged. "Ask Zechs, he knows more about this than we do." He turned to the man and gave him a smile, relieved when he didn't flinch. "We never had any help except each other and Howard. But all he would do was provide parts and a place to work."

Zechs pulled Wufei with him and went to see what was what too.

When Duo asked him if they could get away with what the man was suggesting Zechs nodded. "If they measure carefully and leave at least a foot of extra wire, we'll be able to do that. It's a good idea and one we used a lot. You don't have to know much about Gundams or Leos or what ever in order to measure and cut wire. We could also have them work on the cockpit."

Wufei nodded. "Yes, anything that isn't specialized, we can have the regular mechanics take care of. But I wouldn't like to see them do any of the specialized work. They should leave it up to us. They might get badly hurt if they mess with the installation of the servos or work on the joints. Especially as bad as they are. It's just too dangerous."

Zechs made a face. "If . . ." he took a deep breath. "If it was during the war, I would order that thing decommissioned . . . with explosives if necessary. It's a death trap. But the old guy is going anyway so . . . we fix it."

Heero nodded and put an arm around Duo as he gave a huge yawn and mumbled. 'Sorry.'

Wufei looked at his watch and grumbled, it was late in the afternoon, they'd missed lunch and had a harrying experience. He remarked that there was no reason that they couldn't take off the rest of the day, get some food and come back in the morning to start searching for the parts again.

Heero smirked and replied that his search of the messages on young Junior's computer should be done in about two hours. He could get the results at home. He poked Wufei and offered sushi.

Wufei brightened, Zechs grumbled and Duo just headed for home.

They ate the sushi that Zechs ordered in, sitting in the dining room going over the events of the day. Heero checked on the progress of his search once and came back to the table with a satisfied expression and the remark that it was nice to be authorized to do a search since he could do it twice as fast.

Duo yawned again and grumbled that he was really tired. Heero dragged him off to an early bed time with a slight smirk at Wufei.

Wufei suggested a game of chess or shogi to Zechs who took him up on it with relish. They sat in the library for some time, playing their game. Zechs finally won, by a hair. Wufei had to surrender because he couldn't move again. But Zechs didn't get his king.

They ambled up the stairs in companionable silence and parted at Wufei's suitedoor, Zechs gripped Wufei's shoulder for a moment and then turned away.

"Zechs?" Wufei licked suddenly dry lips.

Zechs turned back just in time to see the pink tip of Wufei's tongue dart out to swipe over his amber lips. "Yes?"

"Nothing. Good night"

Zechs sighed. "Good night. Ronghuang"

Wufei shuddered once, then he turned and entered his rooms wondering exactly when he'd grown feathers.

The next morning found Heero seated at the kitchen table sipping coffee and mumbling into his phone, talking to Sr. Det Anderson. The cook was standing to one side with a wry look on her face. She wasn't used to people invading her bailiwick at all hours of the morning demanding coffee and breakfast.

Heero looked up as Duo came in, Duo's disgruntled expression was enough to make Heero laugh a bit.

"What?"

"I made some notes on the inventory before I ok'd it. The chief sent an e-mail asking for a translation into English."

Heero choked on his coffee, cleared his throat, made a strangling sound then started laughing.

Zechs walked in just then and raised an irritable eye brow, he'd had trouble sleeping and woken up grumpy.

He was followed quickly by Wufei who snarled at Heero, took tea from the cook with a short thank you and settled into a chair to sip his tea and convince himself that he'd had enough sleep.

Duo was trying to read his notes so he could send the translation to the chief.

"'Ro, what the hell does that say?"

Heero glanced over at the pad. "No idea. You should take writing lessons."

Duo made a face. "I tried to find some on line but they were all lessons in how to write stories and reports. I found a really nice site about how to write a thesis but no lessons in how to write better. So . . . Suffer."

Duo stabbed the stylus into the pad and finished his notes again.

Wufei brought his attention back to the group and sighed. "I'll give you lessons. If you'll cooperate and not be such a . . ."

Heero supplied "Jerk? Smart ass? Um . . . help?" Heero covered his head with both hands as his lover swatted him on top of it.

Duo looked at Wufei. "I'd like that. I hate the way I write but it's the best I can do. I never had any lessons. Just Sister doing the best she could."

Wufei bowed from a seated position and smiled. "I'll be glad to teach you calligraphy as soon as we have time. I'll get you a kit and everything you need." He finished his tea. "We better get to the warehouse and see what we have to work with."

Heero grunted. "I'll check my search. I should have some information. If you'll wait a little while, have breakfast or something. I'll come back asap."

Duo settled in a chair and smiled his best smile at the cook, who melted like butter. Zechs smiled too and settled in a chair of his own.

Breakfast was fast and good. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, and juice, served family style. They ate quickly and settled to wait for Heero to come back with the results of his search.

Heero sat at the desk and reviewed the results of the search with a small smirk on his lips. He printed out two pages and plucked the sheets from the printer. He would have just downloaded the information to his computer but he was sure he'd need hard copy to share.

He returned to the kitchen and settled into his place. Duo handed him a plate and took the sheets of paper from him. He looked at the map and then just handed it to Zechs. Zechs shook his head, he didn't know where the place was.

Wufei eyed the paper and grumbled. "Warehouse district. Might have known. We'll just have to wing it."

Heero shrugged. "We'll go in and ask nicely for our stuff. Right."

Zechs bit his lip. This could get out of hand so easily that he shuddered slightly.

"We know who we're dealing with?"

Wufei shook his head. "No. Could be anything from a bunch of computer geeks wanting free parts to someone building who knows what . . . the kind of people who aren't afraid to kill to keep their secrets."

"Fuck." Duo rubbed his forehead. "We'll . . ."

Heero shook his head. "Don't worry. I got their security wrapped around my little finger. All we have to do is find that warehouse and get there. I'll get us in and we can reason with these people. After all, I am a reasonable person . . . as long as they cooperate."

Duo snorted in amusement. Wufei rolled his eyes and Zechs just groaned.

"OK. Who's going where and doing what?"

Zechs shrugged. "If you think I'm letting you three go off on your own, you're crazy. We'll get my chauffeur to show us on a map where this place is. Then recon. Etc. Ok?"

Wufei smiled at Zechs, this was getting interesting. Then Duo slumped with a snarl. "I can't go. Dammit! If I don't get started now, we might not make it before Mick kicks off. Heero, you and Wufei go. I'll take Zechs with me, he can coordinate from there and help me get things rolling. Mr. Lyons is out sick. Emailed this morning. So I need someone with a voice, you know, someone that I don't have to take valuable time arguing with, to pass orders on?"

Heero nodded, used to Duo's convoluted sentences. Wufei blinked languidly as he unraveled Duo's logic. Zechs eyed Duo then Heero. He didn't care what he did as long as it was something.

Finally Heero nodded. "Ok, we can get away with that. We're just trading jailors for the day. If we're asked any questions. Which I doubt. Fine. Wufei with me. Zechs " Heero looked at Zechs who nodded his acceptance. "With Duo. You two better get going."

They parted ways then Duo and Zechs to the warehouse to work on the Leo. Wufei and Heero to head to the district around the air and space port to find their missing parts.

Heero made a circuit of the warehouse, checking out the security. He met Wufei back at their car.

Wufei was leaning on the front quarter panel drinking a soda. The clothing he was wearing made him look like a drop out punk. Heero looked about the same.

"Well?" Wufei didn't bother to try to hide that they were talking. What else would two guys hanging out in this area be doing?

"No security." Heero shrugged and eyed the warehouse.

"None?" Wufei couldn't believe his ears.

"Nope. None, nada, zip, zilch. Come on."

Heero headed for the door of the warehouse with Wufei right at his side.

We're not going to just walk in . . . are we?"

"Why not. We want to buy parts and stuff. We got a rec from a friend of a friend. It usually works that way . . . right?"

Wufei thought for a few steps. "Yeah. That's the way it works. Who are we going to say sent us?"

"Fred."

"Why Fred?"

Heero looked at Wufei for a second. "I like the name and it's common."

"Ok. You knock or shall I?"

"You. Duo says that I sound like the Alliance when I knock." Heero shrugged. He knew he knocked like a cop, he couldn't help it.

Wufei snickered then knocked on the door. Heero thought he sounded like a cop too.

The guy who opened the door was a very bad copy of Duo, at least Heero thought that was who he was supposed to be. He couldn't be Chang, he wasn't Chinese.

"Welcome to my parlor. You may call me G. O. D." the idiot spelled it out and Heero winced. Duo was going to have a fit. "You scared? You should be."

There was a yell from deeper in the room and their host yelled back. "Ok, ok. We're coming. Don't have a hissy."

G.O.D. led them toward the voice, cutting between racks of boxes and cases. Heero sniffed a few times and Wufei sighed. If Heero was smelling things, it was bad. How bad was yet to be determined.

Wufei hissed, "what?" at Heero but Heero just shrugged and continued following their guide.

They came into a clear spot amid the shelving which contained several desks and tables covered with junk and computer parts. Including some of theirs.

The other boy was Goth, black every thing, things pierced that neither Heero nor Wufei wanted to think about. Heero wandered over to one of the tables and examined some of the scattered computer components.

"Whatcha buildin'?" Heero glowered at Wufei so fiercely that he kept his mouth shut.

The pseudo Shinigami came over and picked up the Leo mother board and sighed. "We got a nice computer but the mother board is crap. I thought that I could replace it with this one but it doesn't test out either. Sucks."

Heero just shook his head. "It's dedicated, ya dumb fuck. To Leo's just like the chips there and the desk top you're trying to fry."

"So? I'm good. If I can get it to boot, I can un dedicate it. See?"

Heero smirked. "I couldn't even undedicate it. And is that even a word?" Heero circled the boy he thought of as Mr. Goth. "You think you're so good? You're a fuck up from the word go. What _are _you up to? When you're not screwing things up, that is."

Mr. Goth got indignant. "We're the new revolution. We're starting from scratch and building a new . . ." the boy trailed off as Heero started laughing.

Wufei simply stared. First at Heero, then at the two boys. Who stared back in fury.

"What do you think we are? The Gundam pilots were our age when they started Operation Meteor. We're the new . . ."

Wufei made a slashing motion with one hand. "You're nothing. You're demented. If you think _you_ are the new anything, you're so wrong it's funny."

Mr. Goth pulled out a TP .25 and pointed it at Heero. Heero just walked up until it touched his chest.

"What are you going to do?" He watched as the boy's hand started to tremble. "Yeah, shoot me. Go ahead. Shoot me. I dare you. If you're really the new revolution, you'll shoot me."

The other boy got pale and gulped. Heero smirked at him as Wufei took him by the arm and just held him.

Heero turned back to the goth. "ShootmeShootmeShootmeShootmeShootmeShootme. Can't do it, can you?" Heero slapped the gun out of the boy's hand and caught it in mid air. "You're pathetic. All you're doing is using the revolutionary cloak to hide your thievery. Pathetic."

The Duo wannabe finally found his voice. "Who are you? You're . . . oh."

Wufei nodded and watched as Heero laid hands on the goth. "Yes. We're the real deal. Now. We're going to take our parts and leave. You're going to stay here . . . we'll make sure you do . . . and wait for the cops to show up."

Heero set both boys in chairs and made good use of duct tape. Wufei watched and critiqued. Heero frowned.

"You think I ought to gag them? I'm afraid if I do, one of them will have an asthma attack and choke."

Wufei considered for a few moments, then decided that they didn't need to gag them. "After all, the only people who'll be here soon are cops and they won't care one way or the other."

Heero opened his cell phone and made a call to 911. He just told them that if they wanted to recover stolen merchandise, they should go to that address. He also told them that the offenders were no threat to the officers coming in.

The dispatcher told them to stay where they were, and Heero gave Wufei a look. Wufei just shrugged and drove away.

They slipped by a road block and made it back to the warehouse without any more trouble.

Duo started taking things apart the minute Wufei and Heero left. Zechs went to examine the wiring harnesses that the volunteers had made after they left.

The harness was good. Each wire was measured properly and cut cleanly. Duo popped his head over the edge of the work bench, nearly scaring Zechs to death.

"Bloody hell, Duo. Could you be any more stealthy?" Zechs realized that was stupid the minute the words left his mouth.

Duo grinned at him. "Yeah, actually I could. Um . . . how's the inspection going?"

Zechs carefully replaced the harness set he was holding back on the bench. "Good. This is all perfect. How many men do we have today?"

"I'm gonna take a look now. That was what I was going to tell you. But we're going to be short. This is only Wednesday and most of the volunteers are only available on week ends. We're really on our own. Not that most of the guys are more than grunts. Good intentions only go so far." Duo held up a hand at Zechs's expression. "Not knocking the guys. They're all nice people, just not experienced in mecha repairs. Be back in a little while."

Duo went into the front of the warehouse to see who was there and what they could do. He found six guys standing watching as a truck left the area.

"What's up? I thought that there would be more of you guys here, even if it is Wednesday."

One of the men turned to Duo with a sigh. "Assignment. Her Royal Highness is going on tour again. So we lost half our help to security and several more to fill in duties here. Sorry."

Duo shrugged, he could do it by himself if he had to, it had just been nice to have help. He smiled at the man and remarked. "That's ok. We'll manage. After all we've got Zechs, Wufei and Heero. They've all worked on Gundams. That's a sight harder than a Leo. So, don't be sad. We'll get it done in time. The old guy's got time yet."

Another man walked up in time to hear Duo. "Yeah, ol' Mick'll be around for a while yet. They got him at his brother's house now. So he'll be taking his meds and not drinking so much. He'll have company with his nephews too. He likes those boys a bunch . . . well, we better get to gettin'."

So the six men trooped behind Duo into the suit bay and started work.

Duo sorted the men by skills and realized that he had six electrical experts on his hands and not one single machinist. So he got all six men working on the electrical parts of the Leo. It needed complete rewiring so it was going to take all six of them most of the day to do that, despite the fact that the harnesses were already made.

He yelled at Zechs that he was going to start machining the parts for the servos and went to the materials bin for the blocks of titanium that he was going to need for the first part.

Zechs watched for a few moments then went to set up the machine he needed to re wind the rotors. This was not going to be fun.

Duo glanced over his shoulder and saw a sight that was truly weird to his L2 eyes. The Prince of Sanq was hunched over a machine winding rotor brushes. Duo smiled, he really liked Zechs. Who would have thought that an L2 orphan would be befriended by the deposed Prince.

They stuck with their work until Wufei and Heero came back

When the car pulled into the warehouse and the door started to run down its tracks Duo just hurried around to the trunk. Someone popped it from inside the car and Duo started lifting boxes out of the trunk.

He turned around to carry the first box to a workbench and nearly ran into Zechs, who was standing with his hands out, reaching for the box. Duo put the box in Zechs's hands and turned to get another.

They made a fire brigade and passed the boxes from one man to the next until all the boxes were out of the trunk and safely on the bench. Then Heero started carefully unpacking the parts, some had been opened and handled. Heero just hoped that they hadn't been shocked into uselessness. He settled with Duo to check every one of them.

Zechs started back to his machine but was stopped by Wufei.

"What have you done to your hands? You. . ." Wufei had hold of one wrist and was reaching for the other.

Zechs pulled back. Taking his hands from Wufei's, he said softly. "It's nothing. I'll finish those brushes then I'll do something with them."

Heero put down his tester and came to see what the whispering was about. Whispering was more likely to attract his attention than a normal tone of voice. Duo followed, peering over his shoulder.

"Shit, man. That's not nothing. You're raw meat. . . . 'Fei, take that idiot and do something with those hands before they fall off. Heero, I'm gonna have to go back to machining parts unless you can get that machining program to work. All the patterns are in the computer. See what you can do? Please?"

Heero nodded and went back to work on the computer.

Oh, mugod. Stick a fork in me!

Ronghuang proud and sparkling boy, implied


	26. Interlude

The Price 26: Interlude.

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Zechs managed to keep from ruining any of the brushes he was winding. Near the end of the day he wasn't sure he was going to make it. But his stubbornness was legendary, so he managed.

On the walk back to the mansion, he fell back to stop and examine his hands. They hurt so bad it was all he could do not to groan, at leasthe had gotten his job done.

Wufei noticed that Zechs wasn't with them. Duo clutched Heero's hand and pulled him along, only murmuring. "Come on. Wuffers will take care of him. Let them be. 'K?"

Heero glanced back to see Wufei touching Zechs on the arm. "Sure. I don't want to be around when Wufei gets pissed. He yells."

Duo snickered. "Yeah, got a hell of a set of lungs on him, don't he?"

Heero cringed as he heard Wufei start yelling. "Let's hurry."

Wufei stopped Zechs with a hand on his arm. "Better let me see. They were bad last time I looked at them." Wufei held out his hands, demanding silently to see what the damage was.

Zechs held out his blistered, cut hands and smiled hesitantly. "See, they're not bad."

Wufei made a strange hissing noise, somewhat like a leaking radiator. Zechs started to relax, then realized that Wufei was taking a deep breath through his nose. Uh-oh!

Zechs couldn't translate most of what Wufei said next. All he knew was that it was loud, in Chinese, and angry. The bits he could translate were, 'fool', 'idiot', 'bloody', and 'mess'. He also thought there was a 'love' or maybe it was 'rice'.

He tried to interrupt Wufei but he was told in no uncertain terms to shut up, this in German.

"I will not have you damaging yourself. You're just as bad as Heero or Duo. Neither of them has a particle of sense when it comes to taking care of themselves either. Now, when we get back, I'm sure Duo will have things set up in the kitchen. You. Will. Not. Argue. With. Me. Do you understand?"

Zechs couldn't decide whether to smile in delight, or groan in pain. Wufei had been, not too gently, probing the palm of one hand while he fussed.

"Jawohle, mein Herr!" Zechs gently removed his hand from Wufei's grasp. "Come on. If we don't get to the house soon, Yuy will come looking for us. And I don't relish the ass eating he's going to give me."

Wufei gave Zechs a smug look. "Heero won't eat your ass out." At Zechs' skeptical look, he smirked. "He'll eat around it and let it fall out. Get moving."

But Heero wasn't around when they got to the kitchen, only the cook. She put a kettle on, handed Wufei some supplies and left, mumbling about stupid boys.

Zechs extended his hands for Wufei's inspection. They were a mess, he'd blistered his finger tips and palms. He'd also cut himself in several places.

Wufei picked up a magnifying glass and carefully looked at each hand. He sighed and put it down.

"Well, you've done a good job of turning your hands into raw meat. You've got blisters as big as a Euro coin and several splinters of . . . wire? . . . or slivers of something. I'm not sure which. . . imbedded in you . . . stupid man." Wufei poured hot water into a bowl muttering under his breath in Mandarin.

Zechs finally lost some of his temper and demanded to know what Wufei was saying. So Wufei told him.

"I was saying that you have such beautiful hands it's a shame how you abuse them. You've got scars all over them. You haven't got the sense of a pea hen. If you don't get at least some infection in those blisters, I'll be surprised. You've ground filings, dirt, grease, and I don't know what else into them. If I didn't . . . you're . . ." Wufei spluttered himself to a stop and just pointed to the bowl of water. "Put your hands in there . . . I'll clean them. I'm sorry. I'll probably hurt you, but I assure you it won't be on purpose."

Zechs bit his twitching lips so as not to laugh at Wufei. He was like a terrier taking on a mastiff. Zechs wouldn't laugh at him and insult him but it was close.

Wufei caught the twitching and biting. "So, you have something to say that I want to hear? Or are you just trying not to laugh at the boy." Wufei sniffed sharply in aggravation.

"I would never insult you so. But you have to admit that it is funny. You're not quite half my size and here you are dressing me down like a raw recruit."

"I wouldn't dress you down if you didn't deserve it. You're supposed to take care of yourself and your men. How can you take care of others if you need care? Stupid man. Sit still so I can get the splinters out of you."

Zechs held his hands out one at a time, obediently sitting still as Wufei muttered, cleaned, and prodded. He flinched slightly each time Wufei pulled out a sliver of metal or a scrap of wire, but otherwise held still.

When Wufei was done cleaning and picking, he gently applied a layer of salve and then started to bandage by applying a square of gauze to each palm.

"Wufei, I don't think . . . "

Wufei gave Zechs a sour look. "No, you certainly don't."

Heero walked in the door, just then, with a pair of soft cotton mittens in his hands. "You're not going to use pseudo skin?"

Wufei shook his head. "No, blisters need to dry for a while before it'll stick."

Zechs made a sour face. "You blistered your hands."

"Burns are different. Heero, thanks for the mittens. Those will work just fine."

Heero gave Zechs an ugly look. "Stupid. You should take better care of yourself. What if we need you? You're useless like that." He turned to Wufei. "Take better care of him. I'll have something to say to you later."

Wufei sighed. "Damn. He's on a roll. Here put these on . . ." Zechs reached out wincing. "Never mind, I'll do it. Then I better go see Heero, before he hunts me down again."

Wufei helped Zechs get the mittens on, then got up and left the kitchen with slumped shoulders and dragging steps.

Heero pounced on him at the library door.

"Well, did it work."

Wufei snickered. "Oh, yeah. You should have seen his face. I thought he was going to . . . I'm really not sure what. But he'll take better care of himself in the future. Too bad we didn't have this sort of knowledge when you were such a self-destructive idiot."

Heero ducked his head and grunted. "I'm sorry."

Wufei snorted. "Not that I care so much for myself, but you made Duo _and_ Quatre cry. I don't do well with lachrymose males. And I shudder to think what Catalonia went through with Peacecraft."

Heero did shudder, Dorothy hadn't quite forgiven him yet.

The next morning saw them all awake and at the breakfast table early. They had to get back to work on the Leo.

Duo grumbled when he realized that Zechs was going to be no help at all. He couldn't even take care of himself, his hands were so sore. In fact they were sore enough that he was seriously considering skipping breakfast.

Wufei had different ideas. "You're not eating."

Zechs shook his head. "Can't. My hands aren't cooperating with me today."

Wufei just filled a plate with things he knew Zechs liked and plopped it in front of him.

"And I'm eating that like a dog?"

Wufei picked up a fork, speared a piece of sausage and put it to Zechs' mouth. "Eat!" Zechs just opened his lips and ate. Wufei fed him just fast enough that he had to chew and swallow quickly, or choke. He definitely made sure he couldn't speak. Instead Zechs was forced to listen to Duo moaning about how he was going to have to do it all himself, as Heero was only good for grunt work and Wufei would be too busy babying Zechs to do anything. Zechs wanted to say something, but the insistence of Wufei that he eat quickly kept him from it.

Duo finally wound down and headed for the warehouse with Heero in tow. They left Zechs and Wufei at the mansion to fend for themselves for the day.

"Wufei, not that I'm complaining, mind you. But why didn't you want me to say anything to Duo."

Wufei smiled. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't give you a stomach ache. Duo needs this. He's been so lonely. And he's done nothing but study and worry about Heero. He needs this badly. And he enjoys complaining. You'd never have really gotten in a word. And you might have said the wrong thing and set him off, trying to prove. . ." Wufei made a vague gesture. "Whatever. Who knows what gets into another persons head. I guarantee that you don't want to see Duo in one of his fits."

Zechs gave up. While Quatre was 'little Father' Wufei seemed to know more about Duo than any of the rest of them except Heero. If Wufei said that this was good for Duo then he was all for it. He wanted to see Heero and Duo happy, if he managed to snatch a little for himself too, who would complain?

Heero followed Duo to the warehouse and settled down to make sure that the rest of the computer equipment went where it was supposed to.

Duo went back to working on the servos. He spent all that morning finishing the assembly.

When he finished the last of the servos, he realized that he was going to need more help. The few men left who were willing to help with the Leo, were common soldiers (If any soldier could really be called common) not mecha mechanics. They were willing to do whatever they could but that was mostly scut work, like cleaning up after Duo, measuring wire and so forth.

Duo straightened up and stretched, bending back and forth the work the kinks out of his back. He wondered what Wufei and Zechs were doing. Then he wondered what was for lunch.

"Heero, I'm about to starve to death. Let's go find something to eat. Something that's not so chi-chi that I don't know what I'm eating."

Heero looked up from where he was trying to coax the Leo's main computer into working for just a few more hours.

"Sure. This thing is practically toast. It's going to take a lot more work to get it on line again. So. . . what do you want? . . . Greasy burgers?"

Heero pulled Duo into his arms, hugging him gently and running his hands up and down his back, massaging out kinks.

On the drive to the local burger joint, Duo did some figuring on the back of an envelope.

"Heero, between us, do you think we have enough money to keep us for life?"

Heero considered for a second, got a look at the envelope Duo turned his way and nodded.

"Yeah, I do. Why?"

"Because . . . neither of us is ever going to be able to hold a regular job. You know that, if you stop and think about it. Who the hell is going to hire a couple of ex teenage terrorists? And what the hell are we going to do. . . I mean work at?You know. I've got Bachelors degrees in several fields and I'm working on masters. You've got half a dozen BS's as well. But, who's going to trust us."

"Quatre."

Heero kept his eyes on the road, a necessity as he was going twice the speed limit. Duo looked at the speedometer but decided to keep his mouth shut. Heero was tired, he could see the lines of strain around his eyes, and driving like a maniac made him feel better.

"I, personally, don't need charity. I need a real job. Not that the job he gave me isn't a real job, but my assistants do much better, because they're older. Sucks, but there you are."

Heero just grunted, concentrated on his driving and what he was going to tell Duo when they got to the restaurant.

Heero pulled into the parking lot and switched off the ignition.

"Duo, we don't need charity, you're right. But we do need understanding. And someone who hires us knowing exactly what we are. Quatre is having serious problems with WEI. The dismantling of every geopolitical entity on the entire planet has opened up a can of worms that have turned into dragons. And the colonies are no better. You know as well as I do exactly what is going to happen. Is happening right now."

Duo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. Look at ancient Communist countries. Centralization of government on a grand scale leading to shortages and overages exacerbated by government lackeys skimming . . . blah blah blah. I don't need a lesson in divergency theory and governmental idiocy. So . . . Quatre hired us because he's going to need us. Not because we need shelter 'from the storm of public indignation'. . . fuck. . . I guess I've been so busy feeling sorry for myself that I really didn't think. So . . I'll just wait until he . . .what, sends up a flare?"

Heero shrugged. "I'm not sure what he has up his sleeve, but it's nasty. He's putting out 'spot fires' as quickly as he can. Meanwhile, his sisters are starting to be a real nuisance . . . again. But he has most of them under his thumb now and the rest agree with him whole heartedly. So . . . we wait . . . keep as low a profile as we can. And . . .eat greasy burgers and fries and make that Leo walk. Come on."

Duo just nodded, he needed to go through his email and catch up. Quatre wouldn't keep him in the dark. So obviously he was going to have to do some serious reading.

Grumbling to himself he opened the door of the car and followed Heero into the restaurant.

As they sat down, Heero got a funny feeling on the back of his neck, the kind of feeling that told him they were being watched. He glanced around but didn't see anyone obviously out of place, so he marked it down to normal paranoia and forgot about it.

When the waitress came, she handed them both menus and asked if they needed time to decide. Duo just nodded in a rather distracted manner and stuck his nose in the folder. After some study Heero settled on a curried shrimp salad and tea. Duo took number four, double patty, double cheese bacon cheese burger with mustard, lettuce, pickle, onion and a side of chilli fries. He also ordered a beer.

The waitress just looked at him for a second then sighed, "ID."

Duo produced the laminated card and waited.

"Sorry, not old enough." The waitress handed the card back to Duo who gave her a surprised look.

"Excuse me? Whatya mean I'm not old enough?"

With a roll of her eyes she informed him that drinking age on Earth was 21, and who did he think he was trying to fool.

Duo grumbled that he wasn't trying to fool anyone, "There's no legal age on L2, if you're old enough to see over the bar you're old enough to drink . . . never mind, chocolate malt instead."

"Ok, honey, sorry about the attitude. I just get tired of smart ass trouble makers coming in here and getting all snarky about not getting served. Even had some idiot in here telling me he was a Gundam pilot and had the right to do whatever he wanted. Set _him_ straight real quick. I don't care if you _are_ a Gundam pilot. No valid id, no booze."

Heero nearly choked himself trying not to laugh in the woman's face. Duo kicked him under the table while struggling to keep his own face straight.

The waitress caught Duo with a steely eye. "Knock that off. I'm not having you two horsing around in here. Sit up straight and act like civilized humans. I'll be bringing your food shortly."

Duo gaped at her retreating back for several seconds then dissolved into giggles. Heero struggled mightily but gave up and guffawed.

"If she only knew."

Heero wiped his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, she'd have a heart attack. Nice lady."

Duo nodded back but grumbled. "I'd really rather have a beer. Sucks."

Heero eyed Duo for a second then figuratively clutched his nerve with both hands. "You really need that beer? You . . . er. . . um. . . fuck."

"Later baby." Duo leered at Heero, then became serious. "What are you trying to ask . . or tell, me?"

"Duo, you know what my counselor says about alcohol? He says it can become a crutch. If you . . ." Heero trailed off at Duo's loving expression.

Duo reached over the table and took one of Heero's hands in his. "Love, let me tell you about beer. One is enough. If you're not careful, one gets lonely and sends for a friend. That friend calls a friend of his. That turns it into a party with a whole lot of beer. So, one's my limit, no exceptions and not without food. So . . . don't worry about me. Although I love it that you do."

Heero felt the tightness in his chest loosen. "Yeah and drinking to forget your problems is stupid."

Duo walked into that one with both eyes wide open. "Yeah, but . . ."

Heero grinned. "You drink to make your problems go away, and they do. But they're back in the morning with their friend the hangover. I think we both don't have to worry about the other, do we." It was a statement not a question.

"Nurp, no worries."

"Where did you get that Aussie stuff?"

Duo grinned at Heero and let go of his hand. He settled into the corner of the booth like he was getting ready for a long story.

"Well . . . when I first joined Sweepers, Howard turned me over to some old Aussie guy. He was great, didn't get all bent out of shape when I didn't know something. He'd just smile at me and say, 'No worries, mate.' and explain stuff. I picked up some of his expressions . . . hey! Food!"

Duo pounced on his sandwich with 'glad cries', in other words he whooped like a cowboy. Heero thanked the waitress and settled himself to eat his salad and watch Duo stuff that heart attack on a bun down his throat. He still couldn't believe that Duo could eat the stuff he did and not get fat. But Duo didn't put on an ounce.

"Wa'? Oo ookn' a' 'ee 'ike I'm a . . ." Duo swallowed his mouthful of sandwich and took a drink of his malt to clear his throat. "heathen or something. What?"

Heero managed to translate the first part of Duo's sentence and connect the two parts. "You're going to choke yourself. Why do you eat so fast? It's not healthy."

Duo had the grace to look ashamed of himself. "It's better on the inside where no one can get it. Just old, old habits. You'll notice that I only do it when I'm stressed. This suit is really a mess. You see the servos?"

Heero grunted. He'd seen them, and the joints, and the computers and several other things. He wasn't feeling very good about getting this thing to do more than a walk a few steps, then freeze up completely, forever.

"Yeah, and the gyros aren't any better. You'll have to rebuild them." Duo groaned and put his head in his hands. "Stop that, you'll get that pseudo-cheese stuff in your hair."

Duo sat up straight, wiped his hand on a napkin and pulled his computer out of his pocket. He opened a file and typed quickly. Then he closed the computer and went back to his food.

As they finished eating there was a disturbance in the back of the diner. The waitress cried out, then there was a crash of dropped dishes.

Duo hopped out of the booth and headed that way. Heero stayed three steps behind and as far to the left as he could get in the aisle.

They heard the fight before they saw it. The waitress was hissing at someone to 'quit that and get out.' Whoever she was talking to wasn't cooperating at all.

Duo narrowed his eyes and said in a quiet voice that warned anyone who knew him to back up and try again. "Excuse me. Something _I _can help you with?"

The waitress turned and tried to warn him off. "No, honey. Just a little family discussion. He'll be on his way now." She turned to the boy behind her. "Won't you, Billy? You go home, and we'll talk about this tonight."

The big boy was obviously not interested in going home now or anytime soon.

"I'm not going anywhere until you sign this. I wanna be a soldier. I wanna work on mecha. I'm gonna do what I want. Sign the damn paper." The kid shook the paper in the waitresses' face.

"Look here. I'm your mother and you'll do what I tell you. You don't know anything about it. Working on mecha isn't like it is on vid cast . . ."

Duo patted the waitress on the shoulder gently. "Lady, let me handle this." He turned to the boy and snarled, "You're a dumb ass. You wanna work on mecha? Come with me. We got a mecha to beat them all. You'll learn . . ."

"I'm gonna learn from the best. You know what you can do with your . . . urk!"

Duo had the boy by the throat. "I am the best. Duo Maxwell, at your service, or rather your mother's service. You don't know jack shit. You're coming with me whether you like it or not." Duo looked at the lady, who nodded her permission. He grabbed the boy by the collar and hauled him out into the restaurant. "Come on, 'Ro. Pay while I haul lard ass out."

Heero just shrugged, paid and followed Duo and his sulking apprentice to the car.

The boy didn't say much on the way to the warehouse, mainly because Heero had pinned him with an arctic glare and told him to 'shut up' in a voice that brooked no denial. He wisely shut.

Heero took out his phone and called Wufei. Duo, behind the wheel this time, made an enquiring noise.

"Zechs"

"Oh, say hi for me."

"Hn."

Heero spoke to Wufei who informed him that he'd put pseudo skin on the blisters at last and they showed every sign of healing within a day. Zechs spoke to Heero for a second, then hung up.

"Well? Don't keep me in suspenders."

"That's suspense. And . . . Zechs is bored. Wufei is threatening to tie him to the bed. He wants to come help us. Wufei won't let him, his hands are just beginning to heal well. Etc. Etc. As if we didn't know already. But I had hopes."

Duo snickered. Billy wondered what the hell was going on, but his only attempt to ask a question was met by 'shut up!' in stereo.

Duo pulled into the warehouse and parked at the feet of the Leo.

"Well, there you are, a real mecha. All ours to play with. If we can get it going . . . ok, Bill, come on."

The kid looked at Duo. "My name's Billy."

"Not anymore. That's a kids' name. You wanna work on mecha, you're a man. So . . . come with me and I'll set you your first job."

Bill was excited, his first real chore on a mecha job, until he saw the broom. "What the hell is that? I thought you were going to let me work on the Leo."

Duo smirked at him. "Nurp. You'll do it just like I did. You get to clean up after me n' Heero. We're gonna be neck deep in shit for the rest of the day. We start this and we can't stop. You bring coffee, pick up messes. And jump when I say frog. Got it."

"And who the hell do you think you are to give me orders. I'm bigger than you and I'll . . ."

Bill didn't get any farther. "I'm 02, he's 01. Wanna start something? Do it on your time, not mine. Get to work. Sweep up all around the benches, sort the trash. Metal in there, paper there. Garbage out back. And don't look at me like I'm gonna explode. Work!"

Bill went to work, finally realizing who he was mixed up with.

He swept, cleaned, followed orders and wondered if he was going to survive.

Duo watched him for a while but gave up and turned him over to one of the volunteers, who said he'd make sure the boy learned his lesson.

Duo felt bad about grabbing the boy then dumping him on someone, else but he knew he wasn't the one to fix this. He was way too rough for the boy, he was more used to dealing with mercenaries. He knew that Felix would do right by Bill, so he promptly forgot him.

Wufei snarled, snapped his phone shut and turned on Zechs like the fire breathing dragon he was named after.

"Have you completely lost your mind? Neither one of us is really up to working on that Leo. My hands have healed but I haven't built up any calluses yet. You . . . you have barely begun to heal and you want to go back to fixing up that junk? Not a chance. No way."

Zechs held up his mittened hands in surrender. "Very well. I give up. I know you're right. I just don't have to like it . . . so . . . what now?"

Wufei realized that he was going to have to find some way to distract Zechs or he _would_ do something foolish.

"Well, what would you like to do? I'm up for anything reasonable."

Zechs raised an eyebrow. "I'd really like to go visit my orchids."

Wufei blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Trieze loved roses, but I always preferred orchids. I have quite a collection. I donated them, one at a time, to the local botanical gardens. I haven't seen the collection in quite some time. I'd like to see it. If you don't mind."

Wufei nodded. "I'd like that. We'll change clothing and leave in . . . an hour?"

Zechs shrugged. "Fine. But I'm not going out of the house in these mittens. You better think of something else."

He walked out of the room, back ramrod straight, heading for his rooms and a change of clothing. His 'man' helped him change clothes. He went from loose sweats that he had donned himself, to jeans, button down shirt, and loafers. He turned down socks as being too hard to get on.

Wufei entered to see if he was ready. Zechs eyed Wufei's jeans, t-shirt and trainers with appreciation.

"Nice. But you better do something about this. Because I'm not going out in public wearing mittens. Not a chance."

He left the room, stalking stiffly into his sitting room to wait on Wufei's decision. The stubborn tilt to his chin said, no matter how much he wanted to go, he wasn't budging until the mittens were replaced with something more acceptable and dignified.

Wufei calmly fetched Zechs an old pair of his once famous white gloves. Zechs made a face.

"You think those will still fit? I think they stretched out."

"I'm sure they did. That man servant of yours was highly indignant. But they'll work fine. They have to be too big so you can get them on without disturbing the pseudo skin."

Zechs just nodded and started trying to work them on without pealing off the healing scabs or the pseudo skin.

Wufei reached out to help. "Here! Let me do that. You can't get it without hurting yourself. Silly man."

Zechs submitted to Wufei without comment. He found himself gazing at a pair of pursed apricot lips and wondering if they would taste as good as they looked.

Wufei looked up suddenly and blinked, then blushed. "Something wrong?"

Zechs shook his head. "No, everything is fine. Thank you." He pulled the gloved into a more comfortable fit, made easier now that his blistered fingers were padded by the leather. "I'm ready to go, if you are."

Wufei nodded and led the way to the limo, the driver opened the door for them then asked where they wanted to go.

As the limo pulled smoothly away from the portico, Wufei wondered aloud about a warrior who liked flowers.

Zechs gave him a sad look. "I never wanted to be a warrior, I only wanted revenge dressed up in a pretty lie. I am the last of the royal line of Sanq, beside Relena. They killed everyone else. But now that it's all over, I have to wonder where my mind was. I like poetry, flowers, music; things a warrior isn't supposed to like. Dr. Terry is a great help, but some days I . . . don't even want to get out of bed. My life is empty . . . cold . . ." Zechs sighed and turned to look out the window.

Wufei cleared his throat and wondered if he was about to alienate Zechs. "I was trained as a warrior. All I ever wanted to be was a scholar. I wanted to study ancient Chinese poetry and calligraphy. But in my culture being a warrior and a scholar aren't mutually exclusive. Some of the greatest warriors were scholars. I feel the same way you do. Some days I just . . . could we change the subject. I'm depressed enough today as it is."

Zechs nodded then reached over to turn on the stereo. "This is good. Perhaps we could stop for ice cream on the way back. Hhmm?"

Wufei smiled slightly. He had a secret weakness for chocolate mint chip almond. He thought Zechs might have figured that out.

The limo pulled under the portico at the botanic gardens' large green house and they exited in a patter of officiousness. Someone had called ahead and the general manager met them at the door.

He escorted them to the large and exquisite wing that housed the Merquise collection. Wufei was quite impressed. Some of the orchids were extremely rare.

Zechs deftly got rid of the manager, politely but firmly telling him that he wanted to look and enjoy, not have someone telling him about culture and care taking. He knew all about that and he wasn't about to endure a lecture from some half baked bureaucrat.

They wandered around the enclosure and Zechs told Wufei anything he wanted to know and some things he didn't about orchid culture. He was surprisingly knowledgeable and Wufei's heart broke a little. Zechs so obviously wanted flowers of his own.

Wufei didn't understand why he denied himself, his silent question was answered.

"I would love to have kept some, but the facilities I had available were inappropriate for a mother-in-law's tongue, never mind orchids. No matter how hardy they are, they do need specific conditions in order to thrive."

"I see, and could you keep them in the conservatory at the house?"

Zechs gazed at a particularly awful looking specimen, which Wufei was sure was dying.

"Spectacular."

"It is?" Wufei's disbelieving stare made Zechs laugh.

"Yes, it is. It's nearly a hundred years old. Not part of my collection but it's sort of there. Must weigh in at several stone. It's extinct in the wild."

Wufei blinked. It was certainly ugly enough to be old.

"It's a brassavola, I don't particularly care for them. I like Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium and 'Slipper' orchids best. They're easy to take care of and quite beautiful. Come."

Wufei followed Zechs into the back regions of the large conservatory where he was met by a nondescript man in dirty coveralls.

He watched as the man filled Zechs in on what had been done recently, Zechs looked so happy that Wufei had to do something.

"Zechs, I'm going into the shop, catch up with me when you're done."

Zechs looked guilty. "I'm so sorry. Zhengde. I'll come with you."

Wufei just smiled. "You'll do no such thing. You'll break that poor man's heart. He's obviously been waiting for months to have you to himself. I'll be fine. I want to look at some books and things. Take your time. If I'm not in the bookstore, I'll be in the tea shop."

Wufei made good his escape and sighed with relief. He had things to accomplish and not much time.

He asked the information desk lady to get the garden manager for him, which she kindly did.

When the man came, Wufei explained the situation to him and asked if he would help. The manager was glad to help Wufei surprise Zechs.

Wufei made a call to the house and got the head gardener whom he turned over to the manager. Then he handed the man a credit card.

"Charge it all on that. I'll be back for the card in . . . ." He glanced at his watch, thought for a moment. "…An hour. If you're done before I come to you, I'll be in the tea shop. Do not say anything in front of Mr. Merquise. It's a surprise."

The manager looked at Wufei, started to say something then decided to scan the card first. This upright, stern looking young man didn't seem like the type to set up something like this for a prank. If he didn't have enough money to cover what he wanted, the manager decided he would help him pick something within his budget.

The infinity symbol that came up when the card was scanned made the man blink. Then he went to work.

Wufei looked at the invoice then signed without a blink. "You're sure? I mean about the plants?"

The manager smirked happily. "Oh, yes. I'm completely sure. Most people like the young master donate plants that they like. So I just had the under gardener pick out spiked plants of the same plants that he donated. They're ready to bloom, or putting out spikes. The selection should have something in bloom almost continuously. I'm sure you'll be pleased."

Wufei eyed the man for a moment. "It makes no difference at all whether I'm pleased. Only that Zechs is happy. I'll take your word. If anything fails to please, I'll be in touch. Thank you for your help. I'm sure that everything is in order."

"Thank you. I sent along a journal for the Head Gardner. It explains specific cultural needs for each plant. I'm sure that Mr. Merquise will be much better prepared to care for most of them, but better safe than sorry . . . ." He glanced at his watch. "I better get going, before he shows up and rumbles us."

Wufei just nodded and went back to his tea and book.

When Zechs finally came to find him, Wufei was full of tea and cakes, and had finished most of his book. He now knew enough about orchid culture to discuss the flowers intelligently, or at least ask halfway intelligent questions.

"I'm sorry it took so long. About the time I thought I'd get away from him, he came up with something new." Zechs settled his long legs under the table and signaled the waitress.

When she came over, he ordered a pot of tea and some scones. She smiled at Wufei as she took the order.

"You better be careful young man, you'll get a tummy ache. All that tea and cake, now tea and scones?" she walked away shaking her head.

"You already ate?" Zechs realized that he had really taken quite some time.

"Yes. But I know you're probably starved. Go ahead and eat. I'll just sit here and enjoy the peace. It's nice to watch people without having to check for weapons, drugs or explosives."

Zechs snickered. "But I still check for clean fingernails and straight ties. And other things. I can't help it. And that fat man behind you is about to drive me to distraction. He's got his tie on crooked and the knot is awful. He has one button undone halfway down his shirt and his socks don't match. Change places with me."

Wufei just changed places without comment. But Zechs noticed that he sat where he couldn't see the man either. Zechs pulled off the gloves, remarking with a grimace that he couldn't eat with them on.

After Zechs devoured an entire plate of cakes and drank the tea, in the most negligent manner possible, they had the head waiter call the limo around.

Zechs asked Wufei if there was anywhere he wanted to go but Wufei remarked that being around such a crowd had exhausted him. He said that he'd rather go home, if Zechs didn't mind. Zechs said that he didn't, but asked the driver to drive through the park on the way back.

Wufei had dropped into a light doze, so when the car stopped he snorted inelegantly and straightened to see what was happening.

Zechs got out of the car, was gone a few minutes and got back in with a carry out bowl.

"Here. For you."

Wufei glanced into the bowl and realized that it was the promised chocolate mint chip ice cream. Zechs had a bowl of his own.

So they finished the drive in companionable silence, eating ice cream and watching the scenery go by. Wufei just hoped that he didn't get sick, after all, he'd had three pieces of cake with his tea.

When they finally reached the house, Wufei asked Zechs to wait in the car for a moment. Zechs gave him a puzzled look but readily agreed to wait.

Wufei hurried into the house to ask the butler if his surprise had arrived. The butler smiled at him and relieved his anxiety by telling him that the men from the gardens had finished not fifteen minutes ago and the clean up was just done as well.

Wufei thanked the butler and the housekeeper for all their help and went back out to the car.

He'd bought a silk scarf at the book/souvenir shop, which he now produced. He held it out to Zechs.

"May I?"

Zechs nodded and stooped enough to allow Wufei to tie it around his eyes. Wufei was flattered that Zechs would trust him enough to allow this without question.

He tied it carefully, just tight enough to keep it from falling off, Zechs reached up and tied it tighter. "So it doesn't fall off before you get me wherever it is we're going."

Wufei guided Zechs to the conservatory. He was glad to see that the gardeners had arranged the orchids in with the plants already there. It was beautiful.

He guided Zechs to the middle of the room by the central fountain, then he removed the scarf.

Zechs looked around and made a small sound of delight. The orchids had been placed to show to their best while still looking like they should in the wild. A few were mounted on slabs of tree trunks with the bark still on and hung from the ceiling by chains. Others were just blatantly potted and set around the central area on pillars.

"Oh, Yazhen, it's beautiful. Thank you so much. How did you manage this?"

Wufei felt a sudden surge of delight at being called 'Cultured Treasure' he knew Zechs had taken the trouble to look up the names, no one had ever called him pet names before, except Duo. But he only did it to annoy.

"I just told the Garden Master what I wanted and he did it. I asked for 'pups' from as many of the plants you donated as possible. Then I left the rest up to him. I think he did quite well."

Zechs was amazed. "You mean you just . . . trusted him to do it all?"

Wufei thought for a moment. "I don't see the sense in hiring an expert then second guessing him. Why pay a salary if you won't take advice you've paid for? Senseless if you ask me."

Zechs walked up behind Wufei to see what he was looking at. Wufei had his head tipped back, looking up into one of the trees. Zechs stooped slightly to try to see what Wufei was seeing.

Wufei turned his head to see what Zechs was doing and somehow their lips met. It wasn't a kiss, at first. But neither one pulled away and suddenly it was.

"Zechs."

"'Fei."

Zechs turned Wufei to face him. "I . . . don't know whether to apologize . . . or jump you."

Wufei slid his arms around Zechs. "Don't do either. Come."

Zechs turned so that he had one arm around Wufei's shoulders, while Wufei had an arm around his waist.

They headed up the stairs holding each other.

When they got to the bedrooms, Wufei guided Zechs into the older man's rooms. Zechs let him lead the way. Wufei was thankful that he seemed to be so compliant, he wasn't up to arguing about whose bed they were going to wind up in.

Zechs wiped his sweating hands on his thighs and wondered if he'd lost his mind. Wufei was going to be a handful, in more ways than one. But a handful that he wanted more than water or food.

Wufei slipped into the bathroom and washed his hands, then rinsed his mouth out. He was worried about what Zechs would do. He figured they were in for a battle right off. Wufei was _not_ a submissive, in any sense of the word.

When he got back to the bedroom, he could only blink at the picture Zechs presented. He had stripped and was laying in the middle of his incredibly huge bed half on his back, half on one side, with his left hand resting on his hip, his right supporting his head. He was long and lean, beautifully muscled. Wufei wished he could sketch Zechs.

"Well?"

Wufei cleared his throat. "I'm speechless. You . . . you're beautiful."

"You've seen me naked before." Zechs couldn't resist teasing just a bit.

"Yes, but you're well aware that I would never be so . . . rude as to actually look . . . down."

Zechs smiled, a secret sort of smile. "You can look now, if I get to look at you. Please?"

Wufei smiled gently, Zechs was well aware of the 'rule of the bath' you saw without looking. In other words, you noticed people enough to stay out of their way, but you did _not_ look, most especially at their private parts. The episode of the scars was an exception to the rule.

Now Wufei took advantage of his invitation to look. Zechs was muscular without being bulky, long and lean, a runner rather than a body builder. His penis was just like the rest of his body, and Wufei knew there was no way he could accommodate it, even if he was willing.

Zechs could practically read Wufei's mind, it was good that he could. He held out his hand and called softly, "Come to me. We'll work it all out. I swear, I won't hurt you. Or allow you to really hurt me. Please?"

Wufei just gave a jerky nod and started taking off his clothing. He removed his shirt and hung it over the back of the dressing table chair, his pants were folded carefully and put on the seat. He didn't realize that when he bent to do this he gave Zechs a very nice view of his backside. The shoes he'd toed off to remove his pants were scooted under the chair, his socks stuffed in them. He returned to his place wearing only his boxer briefs.

Zechs allowed his eyes to coast from Wufei's face to his chest and on down to his briefs. He raised an eyebrow and pointed, "Off, please."

Wufei removed them as he walked the rest of the way to the bed. He broke all his training and just tossed them over his shoulder.

As he crawled onto the bed, Zechs turned onto his back and held out his arms. Wufei snuggled down onto his chest and kissed his chin.

"What do you like? I was trained very carefully. Remember what I told you? Tell me."

Zechs sighed, this was the crux of the whole matter. He was trained too. Trieze had taught him to be what was usually called a 'bottom' he could top, but he didn't like to. He wanted to be told what to do. He did too much ordering around during the day to want to spend the night issuing orders too. How he was going to explain that to Wufei was beyond him. He should just let the beautiful young man go now, before they were both disappointed.

Wufei saw the thoughts flitting across his new love's face and read them as if he'd said them out loud.

"Zechs!" Wufei took his chin between strong fingers and made Zechs look at him. "If you want something specific, you have to ask for it. If you want me to take command just say . . . no, just nod. There's nothing to be ashamed of. You don't want to hurt me and you don't what me to harm you. We're both willing, so there is no shame or dishonor here. I forbid it."

Zechs nodded and sighed. "I just want to be loved . . . is that so bad. I . . . just . . . " Wufei put his hand over Zechs's mouth and started loving him.

"First, know that I will always honor you. You are beautiful beyond belief. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm glad you want me." Wufei couldn't help a small smile. "There's considerable evidence that we are truly interested in each other."

Zechs flushed slightly as he realized that he was hard enough to cut diamonds and leaking pre-come. Wufei just took matters in hand and let Zechs know that he wasn't the least bit ashamed.

Wufei set himself to make Zechs scream. He kissed his way across the wide, sweaty chest and touched one nipple with his tongue. He blew on the wet spot until Zechs moaned softly.

"Oh, I like that. More, please." Zechs shivered slightly.

"Would you like to get under the covers?"

Zechs rolled his head from side to side. "Nuh, I'm fine. Feels so good."

Wufei slid further down Zechs and began a nibbling attack that made Zechs squirm and whimper. Wufei continued his ministrations until Zechs pulled him up before he lost all control.

Zechs kissed Wufei, exploring his mouth, he tasted of cinnamon and cloves. Wufei realized that sometime or other Zechs had sucked on a peppermint. Nice.

After some grappling and shifting, Wufei wound up on top, with Zechs on his knees, backside in the air.

"No. I will not. This is not proper." Wufei levered himself up enough that Zechs looked over his shoulder in disappointment.

"What? You . . . want to stop. I thought . . ."

Wufei tugged and pushed until Zechs rolled over.

"Face-to-face. We're equals and don't ever forget it. I will cater to your needs, but for now we need to . . . create a bond. And we can't do that if I'm not looking you in the eyes. You understand?"

Zechs didn't and said so, but he obeyed Wufei. If Wufei wanted it, he'd do it happily.

Wufei made sure that Zechs was ready for him then carefully pushed into his body. He watched Zechs as his eyelids fluttered and his expression changed to one of ecstasy. His body went limp.

Wufei slid his arms under Zechs's knees and pushed his legs up, catching his knees with bent elbows. He found the sweet spot and stroked over it. Zechs moaned.

"Scream for me, my sweet. My beautiful Ice Prince." Zechs did, and gained release with such violence that Wufei felt the convulsions stroking him. The force was so strong that Wufei exploded too.

After a moment to catch their breath, Wufei lowered the limp body to the bed and crawled up against his side.

"Like that?"

"Umm. Like."

Zechs was messy and slick, so was Wufei, but they couldn't have done anything about it if their lives depended on it. They fell asleep cuddled together.

Zhengde Upright Virtue

Orchid plants in 'spike' are just about to begin blooming. Most orchids will bloom on one to three spikes and will stay in bloom for up to six months, if properly cared for.

For my Media Miner readers: I'm having trouble accessing the email addresses on site. If you want a personal reply to your comments, go to my bio and email me personally.


	27. It Walks

The Price: chapter 27: It Walks.

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Authors notes: I'm a yogini (I practice Iyengar style yoga) and I have included the names of the poses in both English and Sanskrit where available. I don't know the English names of some. Also one style will call a pose something completely different and the same name is used for different poses in different styles. If I sound confused, I am. If you want to see them, I'm trying to find pictures which will be available on my website.

Duo was tired, greasy, sweaty and in general filthy and Heero wasn't much better. So when they got home they headed straight for their rooms and the bathroom.

The sounds they heard from one particular suite made them stop. The last scream was the tie breaker so they opened the door and rushed in, only to hear.

"Like that?"

"Umm. Like."

Duo started to say something but Heero put his hand over Duo's mouth and pulled him out of the room.

"We can say our piece tomorrow. Come on."

Duo followed rather sullenly. He was going to make sure that Zechs knew exactly what would happen to him if he hurt Wufei. He didn't doubt that Heero would have a similar talk with Wufei. He knew that Heero loved 'Fei, in a brotherly fashion, but he'd definitely taken Zechs under his protection. And if you were under the 'Gundanium Shield' nothing was allowed to do you any harm whatsoever. Not even another person under that same shield. Duo didn't think they would have any problems but a little gentle reminder couldn't hurt.

"Shower, now." Duo snarled as he got his feet tangled in his jeans, he'd forgotten to take his boots off first.

Heero scooped Duo up in his arms and twirled around and around until he had to lean against the bathroom doorframe.

Duo laughed and unwrapped his braid, which had wrapped around both their necks, binding them together like some sweaty Siamese twin joined at the neck.

"Ooooo, dizzy. Heero you're getting silly. I like it." Duo kissed Heero on the tip of his nose.

Heero crossed his eyes at Duo who just laughed harder.

They managed to get into and out of the shower with a minimum of groping and grabbing. Heero helped Duo with his hair and managed to get it brushed, braided and tied before Duo dragged him to the bed. Not that he protested too much.

Duo yawned and looked at his watch. "How the hell did it get to be 9 pm. I'm bushed."

Heero pulled Duo's braid gently. "We worked on the walking disaster until 7, picked up snacks in the kitchen, and spent nearly an hour in the bathroom."

Duo yawned again and rolled into Heero, sound asleep before he finished putting his head on Heero's shoulder. Heero was asleep soon after.

Heero woke to something tickling his nose. He didn't even bother to open his eyes.

"Duo, stop that."

"Sorry, 'Ro. You do look cute sleeping like that, but we got to get up."

Heero opened one outraged eye and grumbled wordlessly, then he snuggled back down to try to go back to sleep.

Duo quashed that idea quickly. "Nu-uh. Sorry pal. Up and at 'em. We got to harass Zechs and Wu', do something vaguely resembling a work out and then . . ." Heero exploded from the bed and tackled Duo, kissing him into silence.

"I like sleeping late on Sunday. Pest . . . ." He stretched, a full body catlike expression of grace and strength that left Duo drooling. "Well come on. Let's go pester the newbies."

Heero slipped into the bed behind Wufei and Duo matched him with Zechs.

"Awww Ro. Don't they look sweet? So cute, all cuddled up together like that. Don'cha think?"

Zechs grumbled, Duo could be really annoying first thing in the morning. No one should be that cheerful in his bed . . . ?

Zechs came away with two jerks and Wufei. Wufei was snarling softly.

"If you two start anything, I'll make you rue the day."

Duo blew into Wufei's face. "I'll never understand what an herb has to do with anything."

Wufei rolled his eyes. "Barbarian."

Zechs took matters, and Heero and Duo, into his own hands. He kicked his legs out and wrapped them around a startled Heero then snatched Duo into his arms. Heero just grunted, but Duo yelped and started struggling. So Wufei took advantage of their helplessness and tickled Duo until he begged for mercy while Heero put up a half-hearted struggle.

They wound up in a pile of struggling, giggling bodies and finally slid completely off the bed onto the floor.

The thumps and resultant scrabbling noises sounded so ridiculous that they all started laughing again.

Zechs was the first to gain control of himself. "Ok you two, I'm sure you have something to say to me. So say it and get it over with so we can move on. I'm sure you have lots to do today. " He eyed his hands with disgust, they were still tender. "I'd help but I'm not sure what I could do, without having Chang all over me. And not in a good way." He realized what he'd just said and flushed heavily.

Duo whooped with laughter and Heero finally had to lie on his back and simply howl.

Wufei eyed them all with disgust. "You are undoubtedly the most immature idiots I have ever encountered." He got to his feet and headed for the shower. "I expect you in the smaller gym in not less than three quarters of an hour. No breakfast, if you please."

Duo groaned but realized that eating wasn't a good idea. The last time he had, the results had been less than happy.

Heero called firsts on the shower leaving Duo alone with Zechs.

Duo simply looked at Zechs for a second.

"Ok best said straight on. If you hurt Wufei intentionally, in any way, I'll gut you like a fish. Got me?" Zechs just nodded solemnly. "Good. When he's out of the shower you should ask him if you can join us. It would make him really happy." Duo rubbed the back of his head. "Um m m . . . . about that warning. I don't mean . . . you know . . . lovers'quarrels and that . . . see . . ."

Zechs held up one hand in a silencing motion. "I know exactly what you mean. I know that we'll have quarrels. All lovers do. But . . . I will never do anything intentionally to hurt him in any way. Word of honor." He smiled gently at Duo. "Satisfied?" Duo just grinned and nodded.

Zechs watched as Duo sauntered out the door, his pj bottoms barely winning the struggle not to part ways with his hips. Zechs decided he was much luckier than he deserved to be.

He waited until Wufei was out of the shower. He'd planned something different, but the mood was spoiled now. Not that it mattered much, they had plenty of time to discover everything about each other. Zechs had to admit that his plans were probably a bad idea when he started to get up.

His body informed him that it hurt, in places it hadn't for quite a while. He sighed and ambled carefully into the bathroom to meet Wufei standing in the middle of the room with something in his hand.

Zechs shook his head, he knew exactly what it was and he was having no part of it.

"No, I thank you. I don't. . . "

Wufei silenced him with a snort. "If you choose to suffer that is your business. I, on the other hand, choose that you do not. Now stop arguing with me and bend over the counter." Zechs eyed Wufei for a second, then started backing toward the door. "NOW!" Zechs gave up and obeyed his commanding little lover.

As he bent over the counter to allow Wufei to insert the medical suppository, he realized that Treize had never cared if he hurt or not. He flinched slightly as Wufei inserted the object.

"I'm sorry. I was much too rough with you. I'll be more careful."

"That's ok. I liked it. I like it rough."

Wufei snorted again. "That is neither here nor there. I do not like leaving my partner in pain. I was too rough. There is a difference between being rough enough and excessively so. I'll learn your preferences in time, as you will learn mine." Wufei rubbed the small of Zechs' back for a moment then told him to straighten up. "Shower and then we'll have breakfast."

Zechs did as he was told but turned and smiled at Wufei. "You're going to use the gym before breakfast? Can I come? Unless you'd rather I not."

Wufei beamed at Zechs. "If you'd like, you are more than welcome. We'll be taking it easy this morning. Just some stretching and whatnot. Limber Duo up after all the strain he's been under the last few days. Keep him out of that warehouse for a little. He's going to work himself into a collapse. I know his way. Shower. Meet us in the smaller gym. I'll have them started by the time you get there. That'll give me time to assess you."

Zechs obediently and amusedly got into the shower, winding his braid around his head and fixing it into place with several old fashioned tortoise shell hair pins. They had been his mothers, Relena had sent them to him a week ago.

He showered and headed for the gym.

As he approached the door, he heard a soft sound. He looked in the door and saw Wufei leading Heero and Duo through a yoga routine, the sound he'd heard was the soft grunt of exertion Duo gave as he raised himself into Padma Mayurasana. Zechs blinked, he hadn't thought the brash young American would be a yogi.

Then he smiled, Heero had followed suit, as had Wufei after checking the other two for proper form. He stood and watched for a moment as they went from one asana to another, Wufei leading the other two.

Wufei finally turned to the door and motioned Zechs in. "Either come in or go away. That is distracting."

Zechs entered and settled into doing a slow sun salutation. It had been at least two years since he'd done yoga, so he had to be careful to warm up thoroughly.

Wufei checked on Zechs several times, turning his head to make sure that he didn't need help. He didn't, in fact he was doing quite well. Wufei smirked to himself, Zechs was truly beautiful. He was stretched out in Virabhadrasana II. Wufei could see why some called it Proud Warrior II. He had to force himself to turn his attention back to Heero.

Heero was doing a handstand and beginning to bend backwards into Vrschikasana II. Wufei carefully spoke to him before he took his ankle to guide his foot to the top of his head.

"Duo, I don't want you to try this yet. Your balance is off just a hair. Please do Lagu Vajrasana instead."

Duo settled into the 'head on the feet wheel' pose that Wufei requested, bending backwards from a kneeling position and settling into the pose. Wufei was pleased to see that he was breathing comfortably and not forcing the position. He turned to check on Heero who was beginning to labor a bit.

"Stop now, Heero. If you force it too much you'll only hurt yourself and be stiff."

Heero didn't argue with Wufei he just released the pose and settled into a full Forward Bend and relaxed again.

Wufei went to Zechs and bowed slightly. "May I touch you?" Zechs blinked from his position in Bridge Pose, but said yes.

"I'll always ask if I may touch you. It's polite and warns you that I'm here. You're half way between Bridge and Modified Bow. You're going to strain something in a minute."

Wufei gently guided Zechs into the proper position then told him to hold it no more than one minute. Zechs groaned, a minute in this pose and he'd be flat on his back.

Wufei watched Heero drop into Corpse Pose. He hated that name and preferred its Sanskrit one of Savasana although it meant the same thing. Duo followed Heero into the relaxing final pose with a soft sigh. Wufei guided Zechs into the same pose and covered him with a light blanket as he was sweating.

Wufei settled into his own relax and let his mind drift.

After a while Duo rustled around and settled into lotus followed shortly by Heero. Wufei waited until he heard Zechs stir, then he got up and touched him on the foot.

"They will meditate for a while. Do you want to meditate or go on to breakfast?"

Zechs cupped Wufei's cheek in one gentle palm. "I don't care. If you want to meditate that's fine, I'll just sit and relax until you're done."

Wufei glanced at Duo and Heero. Duo was sitting with his face scrunched up in the funniest way, his usual meditative expression, believe it or not. Heero was blank faced, but relaxed.

"I'd like to meditate for a while. So, if you don't mind, I'll sit."

Zechs settled onto a cushion to wait for the three to finish.

Thirty minutes later Duo's nose began to twitch. At first it wasn't much, just a tiny thing, then a bit more, finally his nose was twitching like a rabbits. Heero calmly opened his eyes and turned to look at Duo. He smiled and patted Duo gently on the knee.

"Come on. Give it up. You're starting to wriggle. Let's go find breakfast and figure out what we're going to do with that monster you've saddled us with."

Duo hopped up and headed for the door, dragging Heero behind him. But Wufei stopped them before they could get too far.

"Yuy, I've had it. Off with that."

Heero looked blank, he'd worn the first thing he'd laid hands on. The ubiquitous black bike shorts and green tank that he'd worn for years. "Well, what _am _I supposed to wear."

Wufei shook his head, "I don't care." Suddenly he pounced.

Zechs didn't know exactly what was up but a chance to wrestle Heero into submission was too good to miss. Even if it took all three of them to do it.

They wrestled around on the floor and finally pinned Heero to the floor. Zechs had him in a full nelson and was on top of him, Wufei had pinned his legs by laying across them. Duo was flat on his back, giggling like a girl.

"OK! Guys now that we have him how are we gonna strip him. Ya let go an' he's gone. This is nice." Duo went back to giggling and Heero glared at him. "Don't give me that high BTU glare. I'm kinda tired of that outfit too." Duo got a sly look on his face.

Heero struggled slightly, but there was no way to get free without seriously hurting either Wufei or Zechs, so Heero gave up entirely. He knew they wouldn't hurt him, so he just waited to see what they would do next.

Duo dipped his fingers into his braid and brought out an object that turned out to be a short, guardless knife in a sheath. He bit into the end of the sheath and bared the blade. Heero snickered.

"What are you going to do, cut them off me?"

Duo smirked "Yeah. Sick of the sight of them"

And Duo did. He cut the shorts down the side seams and found that Heero did indeed have nothing on underneath, he also cut the tank at the shoulder straps and down the sides cutting it completely in half. He tossed the rags aside and gazed at Heero for a moment.

"Maxwell, you're staring. Find him something to wear." Wufei placidly ignored Heero's nudity while Zechs tried not to stare.

Heero was all muscle, compact and hard. In this light the scars all over his body showed plainly. He'd paid quite a price for freedom for others. Too bad he was deniedit, for now.

Duo came back with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, obviously he'd planned this. Heero dressed calmly and started for the door.

"I'm starving. I'm going up to see what Cook has set out. Duo?"

"I'm headed up now. See you there?" Duo went out the door ahead of Heero and pattered away.

Wufei took Zechs by the arm and they followed.

Heero stopped Wufei at the door.

"Zechs, will you go see if the cook will make some of the blueberry scones Duo likes?"

Zechs gave Heero an odd look but agreed to do that and headed for the kitchen.

Wufei looked at Heero and waited.

"Wufei, I love you like a brother, but if you hurt Zechs . . . I'm not going to be happy. Ok?"

Wufei just nodded slightly then said. "I won't hurt him more than he likes and you know I certainly won't do him any harm."

Heero just gave a jerky nod, turned and went to find Duo.

Wufei watched him walk away with a speculative expression, then hurried after him as he realized breakfast was in that general direction.

Breakfast was, as Duo put it, down and dirty. Cook, realizing that they were going to eat and run, had made breakfast sandwiches. Croissants and biscuits, split and toasted, with plates of sausage patties, fried eggs, and slices of cheese, laidout ready for them to make their own. There was also orange juice and coffee in carry out cups.

As Duo made his breakfast, he detailed what they had to do today in order to get the Leo walking before Mick 'bought the farm'.

"He's real bad. I talked to his son yesterday afternoon when I took a break. He's just . . . slowing down. He's getting weaker and weaker. So we gotta get that disaster walking this week or he won't be strong enough to do it. But, I'm running out of me. And Heero has to do the hydraulics. I'm not that good with them and he's the best there is. But we need hoses and not one of those guys can cut a metal clad hose without leaving the woven exterior in shreds. Can't attach a coupler if the cut isn't perfect. So . . . once I get done with the last of the servos, I've got to start cutting hose. Anyone can run the hoses. All you have to do is link the new hose and the old one and pull the new one into place. Easy as pie." Duo stuffed one biscuit into his mouth, effectively silencing himself until he could chew and swallow.

Heero sipped at his coffee, thinking.

Zechs shrugged. "I can cut hose. If I wear gloves, which I would have to do anyway, I won't aggravate my hands." Zechs glanced at Wufei who smiled at him encouragingly. "Wufei can start pulling the hoses and that leaves Heero to work on the pumps, actuators, remotes and reservoir." Zechs realized what he'd just detailed and groaned. "Fuck. We're going to be another three or four days at this, and Relena has invited us all to that damn ball of hers."

Duo gave Zechs a deer in the headlights kind of look and Heero just shuddered. Wufei sighed this was not going to be pretty.

Heero just shook his head. "Let's worry about that after we figure out who's really doing what."

Duo had his mouth full so he just raised an eyebrow at Heero.

"Ok, Zechs, you start cutting hose. Wufei, put on the couplers. I'll start on the pumps and when Duo gets done with the last of the servos he can start on the remotes. After the pumps I'll do the actuators and Duo can replace the reservoir in under thirty minutes. That leaves us time to test every thing and make sure it really works before we get mick here to walk it. Any suggestions, remarks, emendations or bitches?" No one said anything. "OK. Let's go make that bitch walk."

When they got to the warehouse, the only person there was Bill, who was sweeping up for the lack of anything better to do.

Duo sighed. "Hey, where's everybody?"

Bill leaned on his broom. "There's a big thing over in the industrial district. WEI warehouses are being gutted by someone, completely emptied of everything. So the entire squad was called up to guard them. You don't know? I thought . . . but . . . well shit."

The look on Duo and Wufei's faces was enough to tell Bill that he had put his foot in it somehow.

Duo was dialing his phone, while Wufei swore and dialed his.

They both got the same story, 'it wasn't that big a deal, it wasn't worth bothering them with.' Duo looked at Wufei and snarled.

Wufei called Quatre and got a message that he was 'out of contact due to time lag, please leave a message' he snarled again and snapped his phone closed.

Duo mean while had gotten hold of Mr. Lyons and was reassured that it really wasn't that big a deal, it just needed a lot of man power. Mr. Lyons also told Duo that he had a full report in his email. Duo groaned, he hadn't checked his email in three or four days.

"This is my fault. Dammit! I've been slacking off, messing around with this Leo. I've got to go into the office next week and catch back up. Fuck! Ask for a responsible job then . . . son of a bitch."

Duo picked up a wrench and threw it at the Leo. It didn't do any harm to it. Hitting a mecha built to withstand anything up to and including a bazooka with a wrench just made Duo feel a little better.

Heero walked over and put his arms around Duo. "I'm sorry. It's mostly my fault. I just . . . sorry."

Duo hugged Heero back. "No, it's not your fault. I was so glad to have you back that I took two months vacation. But they need me around and I'm done slacking off. Even if Q did understand. I have a job I'm supposed to be doing and I'm not. We get this bitch walking and I'm gonna have to put in some serious time in the office and on the training grounds."

Zechs didn't make any remarks, he just started cutting hose. Wufei joined him, checking the computer screen to see which ends went on the hose Zechs was cutting. This was why the computer had been so critical. It had all the specifications for hydraulic hoses and pressure requirements for the pumps.

"Zechs?"

"Umm"

"I have to go back to work too. I took off as well. You . . . want . . . um?"

Zechs didn't turn his head. Cutting a woven metal clad hose was nothing to look away from. "Say whatever it is and be done with it."

"I'll talk to Quatre if you like. He'll be glad to have you aboard."

Zechs grunted as the hose parted cleanly. "Don't need charity."

Wufei picked out the proper end and started attaching it. "Not charity. You have skills we could use. Duo's right. We've been slacking off. You saw the quality of recruits we're getting. Pathetic."

Zechs clamped the proper place on the mother hose and started the next cut. "What the hell is Winner up to anyway?"

"Creating his own police force. Without borders to complicate moving stolen goods, thieves are taking over the whole of ESUN. They're gutting commerce. WEI is losing up to fifteen percent of its manufactured goods and computer theft is through the roof too. So . . . instead of relying on over worked and, frankly, ignorant police forces, Quatre is creating his own security force. Under Duo's and my tutelage.

"When Heero was released, we went a little foolish. We both immediately took off for an extended sabbatical, as Quatre called it. But we've messed around too long. We're losing control of things. If we let the old school creep in behind our backs, we might as well take up knitting or something. All Quatre's good work will be wasted. We have to get back. Soon."

Zechs nearly cut himself when he realized that the offer was serious and Quatre was effectively making his company a political entity.

"Shit."

Wufei looked up quickly. "Cut yourself?"

"No. Talk to Quatre for me, please. I want in."

"Ok. You done with that section yet?"

Wufei waited until he had several lengths done, then he went through them and sorted them. They were cut according to lengths. So many of this length with this coupler, then so many of another and so on. But they went into different parts of the suit, so he was sorting them according to where they went as they got them made. It would make installing them much easier.

Bill came over to ask if there was anything they needed. He cast an envious look at Wufei, but didn't say anything. By now he had realized that working on even a low level mecha, like a Leo, was a lot harder and more complicated than he'd realized.

Wufei straightened up and realized that it was almost noon.

"Yes, we all need something to eat. And not that garbage from the lunch wagon." He dug into a pocket and handed Bill some money. "Go to that Chinese place in the alley behind the yards and order a dinner for eight. I'd call on the phone but that's guaranteed to foul up things. Make sure they understand that we want these dishes; a chicken, a beef, a seafood, a tofu, a vegetable and a pork. Also plenty of pot stickers and egg foo young. Triple rice. And three thermos bottles of tea. If you try to get all that over the phone, they're sure to get confused. Ride back with the delivery man. Ok? Got everything?"

Bill nodded. He'd taken a piece of scrap paper out of the trash and written everything down. He showed the paper to Wufei who nodded his approval and even complemented him on his writing.

Bill glowed with pleasure and headed off to walk the several blocks to the restaurant.

While Bill was gone, they all sat down to rest and visit. Duo explained the whole situation to Zechs while Wufei interjected a comment from time to time. Heero knew most of it from exchanged emails but some of the information was new. He realized that Duo and Wufei had been dealing with a very sensitive situation. Quatre was indeed up to something big.

Zechs sighed. "So you need Mr. Lyons as a liaison between you and adults outside the company?"

Duo nodded. "Wufei uses him to, from time to time. It sucks, but most of the people in the company know better than to put up a fuss for working with us." Heero smirked at Duo. "Ok, asshole. I know I look at least four years younger than I really am but . . .never mind. That omae o korosu look of yours is enough to ensure cooperation from anyone."

Heero snorted. "Not. Have trouble all the time. It's just that I don't need cooperation. All I ever needed in prison was to be left alone. That's easy to accomplish. Just snub people often enough and they go away. You need active cooperation and that's a lot harder to get. Especially when you look twelve."

Duo smacked Heero on the shoulder. Heero jumped up and ran into the warehouse with Duo after him, yelling like a banshee. They ran around yelling and laughing with Zechs and Wufei calling encouragement to both of them. Finally two things happened. Duo got Heero in a headlock and Bill came back with the food.

There was every thing that Wufei had asked for and two extra dishes. The delivery man even brought real dishes and a cardboard box to return them in. After he laid out the food he bowed to Wufei and remarked that his 'boy' drove a hard bargain.

Bill checked everything over then announce. "All right. Come n' get it."

Wufei examined the table and realized that Billhad somehow convinced the restaurateurto send Thai noodles and spring rolls.

"Very good. You did an excellent job. Please, go first." Wufei motioned with one hand to indicate that Bill should go first.

Bill looked at Wufei then started filling his plate. Duo and Heero joined them and Zechs brought up the rear.

As they filled their plates, they discussed how they were going to proceed with the repairs.

Duo was nearing his limits and Heero wanted to have Wufei and Zechs work on the more complicated task of replacing the hydriodic fluid reservoir. Tracking hoses was grunt work.

All of a sudden Bill found himself pinned by four sets of sharp eyes.

"What? Did I do something wrong? I'll punch that . . ."

Heero was shaking his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. You want to work on a mecha, we have a job you can do. Maybe."

Bill perked up, this was more like it. "I want to do it. I might not be able, but I sure want to try. What do I have to do?"

So Duo explained what was involved in pulling hoses. "All you have to do is hook the new hose to the old one and pull the old one out. That'll track the new one right into place. If it hangs, get one of us. I'll write numbers on the couplers in a special marker. You check with the computer. It'll show you exactly where the hose is. The old couplers will be engraved with the proper numbers. You think you can do that?"

Bill thought. "Yeah, if I need help I'm smart enough to yell. I don't get my balls involved in a job. That's one of the reasons I get so mad at Mom. I'm not like my dad. He wouldn't ask for help if his ass was on fire. Soon as I'm done eating, I'll get started."

Bill hooked up another hose and started to carefully pull it out of the finger of the suite. He hadn't realized that there was so much hose and so many different sizes. There was hose for the fingers, wrists and ankles. Then a different larger size for the arms and still larger for the legs. Each piece was connected to a reducer or secondary pump. The thought of the miles of hose in the suit made him cringe. And it all had to be replaced.

He'd already had to call for help three times, each time the hose had hung because it was so worn the covering had shredded and the loose strands of the covering had caught on something. He was definitely beginning to regret being so sure that he was capable of doing what the so-called G-boys had. This was hard, dirty, and complicated.

Duo watch Bill for a few seconds. The guy was all right, he was working as hard as the rest of them and doing a thankless, mindless job without too much complaining. Not any more than they were doing at any rate.

"Done with those servos?" Heero leaned into Duo's back carefully.

"Yeah, finally. They all check and double check. I think I'll go ahead and change out that tank. I'll also go ahead and fill it and connect the nurse hose."

Heero nodded his acceptance. "Ok, won't do for the tank to go dry before the hoses fill. Air bubbles won't make any difference here on earth and they'd bleed into the vents sooner or later, but better safe than sorry. I'll start on the actuators."

The both started off with matching sighs. This had turned into a whole lot more work than any of them had expected. But Heero knew that trying to get Duo to quit now was like trying to reverse the earth in its orbit.

Late afternoon saw them done with most of the job. Heero straightened up and leaned from side to side, trying to work the kinks out of his back. Duo was still messing about with something in the ankle of the Leo. But aside from testing, everything seemed to be done.

Zechs was pulling off his gloves while Wufei pulled something out of his braid. Wufei made a face and tossed the sliver of metal into the trash.

They met at the big table they had set lunch out on.

Heero settled into a seat and poured himself a cup of tea from one of the thermos bottles. Wufei took it right out of his hand, so he poured enough cups for everyone.

"We got it done. All we have to do is test it. Bill, I'll call you a cab. Take the dishes back to the restaurant and go home. If you could come back tomorrow, it would be a real help. And . . . thanks."

Bill smiled, "Sure. I'll get the dishes back. I promised, after all. And I'll be back tomorrow. We going to walk that baby?"

Duo nodded wearily. "Heero, will walk her to be sure everything works like it should and get all the kinks out of the bitch."

Zechs dialed his phone and called for a cab. Then they all helped Bill clean up the dishes.

There wasn't any food left one them, but they needed a quick wipe so they wouldn't stick together. They packed them in the box and Bill went to the door to wait for the cab.

Duo put his head down on the table and mumbled something about resting his eyes.

"Heero, I need to talk to you." Zechs didn't think Heero was going to make too much of a fuss. "We have to let Duo rest tomorrow morning. Can you keep him sleeping for a while longer?"

Heero smiled. "If I just lie still, he'll sleep like the dead. He's worn himself out over this and I don't like it. After all he's been through lately he shouldn't have taken this on. But tell him no. I dare you. On second thought don't."

Zechs smirked at Heero. "I think it would be about as useless as telling my little dragon no. Don't you think?"

Heero smirked back. "Worse. Believe me, I know. You can reason with Chang. Give him three good reasons and he's with you. Duo? Three dozen good reasons won't make an iota of difference." Heero and Zechs exchanged knowing glances.

Wufei was watching them and wondering what they were whispering about.

Zechs motioned him over and put an arm around his shoulders. Wufei snuggled up to his chest and sighed wearily.

"What are we going to do about Duo? He's sound asleep at the table." Wufei eyed his friend and worried at his bottom lip.

Zechs shrugged. "I'll carry him back to the house." He looked at Heero. "If he'll sleep through it."

Heero shook his head. "You touch him and he'll gut you before he realizes who it is. I'll carry him. He'll sleep through that. Come on."

Heero hauled Duo to his feet causing him to snuffle a little. When Heero took him into a fireman's carry, Duo just grumbled something that sounded like 'not now' and 'too rough' then went back to sleep.

Zechs sighed, he hurt in places he had forgotten he had. Wufei seconded the sigh and raised him a grumble.

When they got back to the house it was still fairly early, but they were all so tired that it didn't make much difference. Zechs directed the housekeeper to send meals to their rooms and they all headed upstairs.

Zechs collapsed across the bed with his arms spread, he was truly exhausted. He wanted a bath but felt too lethargic to get up and do anything about it. Wufei dragged him off the bed and ordered him into the bathroom where he proceeded to strip the man naked, shove him into the shower and follow him as quickly as he could.

After a quick but thorough shower they went back into the sitting room and ate the food that was there on the coffee table. Zechs stretched and grumbled. "It's too early to go to bed just yet. Would you like to listen to some music?"

Wufei nodded and handed Zechs the book he'd been reading, then found his own.

They settled down in a companionable way to read for a while before retiring to bed to sleep the sleep of the 'just'.

Heero put Duo down on the bed and sighed. Duo was greasy, sweaty and smelly. He didn't fancy sleeping with anyone who smelled like that, so he stripped Duo where he lay then just picked him up in his arms and carried him into the bathroom.

Heero set Duo down on the small stool in front of the closet and pealed himself out of his clothing. It was as bad as Duo's.

"Wakie, wakie. Shower time."

Duo opened one outraged eye and snorted. "'m awake. Shower? Mmmm, good. Wake me when we're done. 'M 'k?"

Heero laughed softly. He was so glad to be back with Duo, he'd have given him a sponge bath if he'd asked. Instead, he turned on the shower and waited until it was just right, then he got Duo's arms around his neck and walked him into the shower.

When they were done and dry, Heero enfolded Duo in one of the cushy terrycloth robes Zechs had provided them and poked and prodded until Duo shambled into the sitting area and plopped onto the couch.

"There's food here. Eat some and then we'll go to bed. Ok?"

Duo just went 'Hn' and held out his hand for the plate Heero was loading. Heero watched as Duo just ate what was on the plate.

Heero waited until he was sure Duo was done then he took the drooping plate from Duo and steered him into the bed. He gently covered Duo with the sheet and folded the blanket just right so that Duo wouldn't have to struggle if he had to pull it up.

Then he went to Duo's computer and opened his email files. Heero finished the food as he caught up on Duo's duties. Then he hacked into Wufei's email files and read those.

Heero tickled Duo's nose with the end of his braid. He was always surprised at how soft the hair was. He was also dismayed at how heavy it could be. Especially when it was wet.

Duo scrunched up his nose and wriggled it. Then he swatted at the annoyance and grumbled.

"Duo. You have to wake up now. Come on. You've slept long enough. Lunch is ready."

Duo yelped and sat up so fast that he bounced on the bed.

"Heero Yuy-Winner. You were supposed to have kicked me out of bed hours ago."

Heero clutched at his chest dramatically. "I've been middle-named. The shame of it all."

Duo snickered and swatted him. "Truth hurts. Dammit. I've still got all the testing to do. And I wanted to walk that monster today."

Heero handed Duo a glass of orange juice and waited while he gulped it down. "It's been done. Wufei and Zechs left early this morning to take care of that. Bill was there, so we took it out for a short walk. Works like brand new." Heero aborted Duo's fit. "I know you wanted to be there, but you're so tired that you wouldn't have been able to keep awake for the fun part. Zechs and Wufei are taking a nap right now and I haven'teven started to reach the end of my reserves. So . . . don't fuss . . . please?"

Duo gave up, when Heero gave him that particularly sweet look, all he could do was cave in.

"Ok. I won't fuss. Can I have pancakes?"

Heero shuddered but allowed that Cook would fix him anything he wanted.

Cook fussed, made pancakes and delivered them to the conservatory. The table set up in the middle of the room by the fountain had already become a favorite place for the two. Duo had surprised Heero by shyly admitting that he liked the orchids and the lush foliage.

Duo looked up from the plate in delight. "You even put on the peanut butter right. Thanks. This looks great. OhboyOhboyOhboyOhboy" Duo dug in, cutting off a big bite and stuffing it into his mouth.

Heero just hoped the jug on the tray contained milk, otherwise Duo was going to choke.

Zechs and Wufei wandered in about the time Duo was half way through his second plate.

Wufei settled in one of the Papa San chairs, accepted a cup of tea from Zechs, and eyed Duo's plate with revulsion. Zechs got himself a cup and sat down with Heero and Duo.

After eyeing the plate for a moment he made a face. "What is that? Peanut butter? Ugh. That's just plain nasty. I think I'll sit over there with Minglong."

Wufei smiled into his cup. "Sorry, Bihai. I knew you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it . . . never . . . I repeat never get close enough to smell it."

"You, sir, are just plain cruel. That was enough to throw me off pancakes for months."

"Well, you'll just have to eat waffles instead."

Duo started to say something, but Heero kicked him firmly under the table and he stuffed a fork full of pancakes into his mouth instead. For which they were all grateful. Zechs warily wondered what Duo ate on waffles, then decided he didn't want to know.

Duo finally swallowed the last bite of pancake and gulp of milk. He wiped his mouth on the napkin and stood up.

"Ok guys, let's get this show on the road. I'll go see if Mick can make it today."

Heero patted Duo on the shoulder. "I already took care of that. He's on the way. We're going to walk it at 2pm, so we have time to get there, set up, and be ready"

Duo relaxed against Heero, he'd been so alone during most of his life that he sometimes had trouble remembering that he had friends now. Friends who would help him do what he needed to.

It didn't take them long to get to the warehouse. Zechs had had enough of 'tramping through the woods', as he put it, so they took a car. Zechs drove, with Wufei beside him, and Heero necked with Duo in the backseat.

"Don't encourage them. They're bad enough in bed." Wufei realized what he'd said two seconds before Duo swatted him on the back of the head. Heero and Zechs both nearly died laughing, Zechs even pulled over for a moment so he wouldn't have a wreck.

The warehouse didn't look much different from the day before, but there was a certain something in the air. An excitement that wasn't there before.

Mick arrived and Duo was glad they'd gotten 'the bitch' walking in time. He looked like hell warmed over, so thin his skin hung in folds around his neck and pale. The disease was wasting him away to nothing.

"Hey, Mick. We got it going."

Mick nodded wisely. "Yeah, my Sheila is a good girl. She'll do anything I ask her to do." Mick shambled towards the lift cable, but Duo took him gently by the arm.

"Mick, you're a war hero. We don't use lift cables any more. Got a real nice cherry picker right here. Come on. Right in and we'll go up and you can walk her around. See if we did a good job. Whaddaya say"

Mick smiled happily. "A new lift system. I always said that there ought to be a better way. But the cable is good. Don't have to wait for some ground pounder to line up the stairs or what not."

Duo helped Mick get into the chair and guided his shaking hands to the controls.

"Mick, who's Sheila?" Duo had wondered who the girl was for days, now he was going to find out.

"The Leo. She's Sheila. My pretty gal. My Sheila. Give a guy a minute can't ya"

Mick wasn't being hateful, he just knew he was going to cry and wanted to do it alone. Duo realized it too, so he just said 'sure' in a cocky tone of voice, told Mick to start her up when he was ready and left Mick alone with his 'girl'.

It didn't take long for Mick to pull himself together and walk the suit. The sight of a Leo walking around the WEI training grounds soon brought vid casters by the score to find out what was going on.

Mick saw them and showed off a little, putting the Leo through its paces and generally making them all oooo and aaahh.

When he finally brought Sheila back into the warehouse, the news people all tried to rush the place to find out what was going on.

Zechs took the situation in hand before they could mob the suit and get hurt.

He explained what was going on. That Mick was very sick and this was practically a dying wish. Cameras made camera noises and reporters shoved microphones in his face. He sorted the reporters by offensiveness. The most offensive to the back the kinder, gentler ones to the front. His imposing height, reputation, and status, made his decisions stick. Not to mention the twin buster rifle glares of Wufei and Heero.

Mick came down in the cherry picker and gazed at the reporters with a baffled expression. Duo explained that seeing the Leo had caused a commotion and they were here to report on what was going on.

"You wanna talk to them? Or shall I tell 'em to fuck off? Up to you."

Mick decided he'd talk. "I'll give t' drongos someat t' 'ear. But they ain't gonna like it. Don't care for all this argy-bargy."

Duo smirked, Mick was tired and had descended into Aussie slang with a vengeance. He had half a mind to let him go on like this but he knew the reporters would make fun of him.

"Mick, cool the Aussie a little. Ya sound demented."

Mick snorted. "I speak the king's English as good as you, boy, and don't you forget it. Bunch a wankers. Pushin' n' shovin' like they're in a ration line." Mick took a deep breath. "Well, come on boy, don't just stand there with your dick in your hand."

Duo cracked up. "Ok, ok, old man. I'm comin'. Don't get your knickers in a twist."

They walked over to Zechs with Mick in the front. He stood up tall and straight saluted Zechs and said. "Mick MacAuckland at your service, sir."

Zechs gave him a casual salute and ordered him a chair, to be put on a dais, which was actually the back of a flat bed truck draped with a piece of black canvas. Mick settled into the chair and waited.

Duo brought him some water and Wufei and Heero kept the crowdunder control as Zechs fielded questions of doubtful intelligence.

Mick finally cleared his throat. "I got summat to say an' if you numbnuts don't shut it. I carn't say nothin'."

There was some jockeying and pushing. Heero threw two teams out entirely. Mick waited patiently until the uproar was under control again, then he started talking.

"I'm an old man. I spent most of my life in space, trying to make freedom for all the people. Somehow or other I got some sort of space plague. I'm dyin' as I stand here. These boys here worked real hard to get my Sheila workin' again so I could walk 'er one more time. I'm thankful for the life I had, it was good. I got no complaints. Except that, these boys, all Gundam pilots got the dirty end of the stick. They went through more in eighteen months than I did in all my life an' their trainin' would a' killed a strong man. Never mind some skinny kid. So, the price I paid isn't nothin' compared with what they paid. So I got benefits and free health care and a place to stay. With my nevvy, but nemmie mind that. It's good. No worries. What did they get? Prison an' humiliation an' all bad stuff. Shame on all a' you. And onya ta them. I salute them all."

And Mick did, standing proud and snapping his salute like a man half his age.

Then he sat down again and whispered to Duo. "I'm all done in now. Can you get rid a that bunch a' dingo bait?"

Duo nodded "Sure thing Mick. And onya ta you too. Thanks."

The reporters recorded, commented and marveled for a while but were persuaded to leave by the simple expedite of Wufei getting on the PA system and telling them to get out or get arrested by the security.

Duo watched Mick climb into his nephew's car, then collapsed into Heero's arms sobbing like his heart would break. Mick really wasn't long for this world.

The Aussie slang was snatched from various places on the 'net, and my memories of a friend from childhood. If anything is glaringly wrong, please tell me and I'll fix it.

I know more about hydraulic repairs than most, because I usually wind up working on stuff myself. I can do just as good a job as some repair 'man' and I'm cheap (free). If you're interested in more explanations than are in the chapter I'll be glad to bore you for 20 or so pages. snerk


	28. Of Horses and Gundam Pilots

The Price 28

Betaed by Skippyscatt

The media blitz over the Leo continued for two days. They interviewed Mick, and Billy, and bothered everyone who had anything to do with the Leo. In other words they behaved like reporters.

Duo wanted to shoot the lot of them, Heero and Wufei ignored them with chilly dignity. Zechs simply directed them to speak with either WEI public relations or Relena's Publicity Director.

They didn't get very far with WEI as the public relations director himself told them to talk to Quatre. Quatre was still out of touch on the colony. Relena's publicity director simply told them no comment. So out of frustration or spite they started rebroadcasting anything they had, which made Duo even more furious

They kept running the footage of Duo's almost execution. Especially the ten second clip of him walking into a large open area, in shackles his face bloodied, bruised and swollen. They led him into the camera's range then knocked him down and kicked him. One of his guards dragged him to his feet by his braid and slammed him into the pillory. When they locked the cuffs, they cut his wrists.

He looked at least four years younger than he really was, which meant at fifteen he looked eleven. The weight of shackles, pillory and bruises made him look small and helpless. Especially since his cut lip and bloodied nose had bled down his neck and stained the white priest collar he wore.

Heero had never seen the clips for some reason or other and his horrified look made Duo swear that he was going to find that reporter and gut him.

Then they showed excerpts from Heero's training, and Duo cried. Wufei swore and hid his face in Zechs' chest. Zechs said things in German that even Trowa probably couldn't have translated.

Finally Wufei lost his temper completely and pulled what Duo later called an Elvis. He drew his service pistol from somewhere in his clothing and shot the vid. Several times. Zechs snatched the gun from his hands and swore in German some more. A few of the braver servants peeked in the doors to see what was going on, but the housekeeper shooed them away.

Then she firmly told them that they weren't allowed to shoot the vids or even watch them for the rest of the day.

"You should go out. Do something active. Ride the horses! They need exercise. Go shooo go."

The stables had never interested Duo but Wufei, Heero and Zechs had all been in them at one time or another. The stable boys were glad to see them and immediately started recommending horses for them. Duo watched with mounting distress, Heero could ride quite well. Duo remembered being told by Catalonia that he had a great seat. What Duo didn't realize was that Zechs had practically been born on a horse and Wufei had been taught to ride as part of his education. It was suitable to his station.

Duo on the other hand had limited experience with horses. In fact the only encounters he'd ever had with horses were on the table.

Duo watched as Wufei and Heero examined the horses they were offered. Zechs had a mount, a thing which puzzled Duo until he asked one of the stable boys. Who informed him that Master Zechs was a horseman of some renown and had always had a horse at Master Treize's residence. This horse had been brought here when Zechs and been incarcerated, so that he would have it near by.

Heero turned to see where Duo was and realized that Duo was nearly hiding behind the stable boy. He walked over to where they were standing and put his arm around Duo.

"You don't have to ride if you don't want to. I know you don't have any experience with horses. I'm sorry, love. I . . ."

Duo squared his shoulders. "It's ok Heero. If you wanna, go ahead. I'll wait here until you get back."

Zechs put one hand on Duo's shoulder. "We're going to ride over to my club. If you want to come, I'll make sure you have a suitable mount. Not all horses are . . . spirited. There are some here that I would put anyone on. Even a . . . er . . . inexperienced rider. We have a nice mare . . . let me check to see if she'll jump or not."

Duo gulped at the wordjump. He wasn't interested in breaking his neck on some wild beast.

"'Ro, if you wanna go. Fine by me. But you're not getting me on a horse. No way."

Heero just hugged Duo and whispered in his ear. "The best way to get out of this is to try it. Ok? If you really don't like it, Zechs won't force the issue. But . . . please. Just try it? For me?"

Duo grudgingly nodded his agreement. "Ok, but if I get killed I'll never speak to you again."

Wufei just watched doubtfully as Zechs lead out a small quarter horse mare. This near pony wasn't going to jump much of anything.

"Zechs? How is she going to get to the club if she doesn't jump?"

Zechs smiled. "There are several gates between here and there. I'll send someone to open them. All Duo has to do is stay on Miranda. And she's a good girl, she won't lose him easily." Zechs stroked the mare's silky nose. "Aren't you girl?" Themare lipped at his hand and snorted her disappointment at the lack of treats.

Duo flinched. "What? What was that? She's . . . um . . . Heero?" Duo's voice had a definite squeak.

"She's looking for treats. That snort was just her complaint that there aren't any."

Heero and Wufei wandered off into the depths of the stables in search of mounts, leaving Zechs to get Duo mounted and comfortable. Heero wanted desperately to stay but he knew that it would only make Duo nervous. And a nervous Duo was, not something he wanted Zechs to have to deal with just yet.

Duo eyed the mare with some dismay. "She's awful big. Don't you have anything . . . smaller? Er . . . shorter?"

Zechs shook his head. "She's small. Barely more than a pony. She's calm, steady and knows where to go. All you have to do is hold on and ride her. I'll send a groom with you to open the gates . . . you don't have to do this if you don't want to. I can have you driven around by car if you like."

Duo firmly shook his head. "I'll ride. I want to see Heero jump stuff . . . um, you too, of course."

Zechs just laughed, making the mare shake her head. "You want to see Heero jump stuff. Ok. I'll see to it that he does exactly that. And Wufei. I hear he has a good seat. Well, here's James with the tack."

A groom approached them with a saddle over his arm and a bridle in one hand. He handed the bridle to Duo who immediately jumbled the carefully arranged tack. The groom gave him a doubtful look, then turned to Zechs.

"James. He's never been on a horse before. You'll have to saddle her up for him. You'll also be going with him." Zechs smiled at James with some sympathy. "I know you'll take good care of Duo. He's been wanting to watch jumping, so you'll be leaving now and make sure you get him to the Bank and Ditch, he'll get a kick out of that."

Duo watched as James bridled and saddled Miranda. He was amazed that such a big animal accepted the man's ministrations without objection.

James smiled at Duo and invited him to come pet his mount telling Duo that Miranda was a nice mount and wouldn't hurt him.

Duo carefully stroked the mare's nose and realized that what she had in her mouth was a solid bar of metal.

"That's mean. Take it out. Now. She's gonna be hurt."

James just shook his head. "Won't hurt her at all. Unless you yank on the reins. Look." James gently stuck two fingers into the mare's mouth and pulled on her tongue. She obediently opened her mouth and Duo saw that she was missing teeth. "See where the bit sets in her mouth. That's natural. Horses don't have teeth there. If you really don't want a bridle, I'll put her on a lead line. But just give it a try. If she starts shaking her head, you're holding the reins too tight. I'll be right there with you so you won't hurt her."

Duo gave James a level look, but James just gazed right back. Duo nodded shortly and announced that he would keep the bridle. James nodded back and turned to adjust the stirrups.

They were alerted to the approach of the others by the clatter of metal shod hooves on the floor.

Duo turned to see Heero, Zechs and Wufei mounted, on very tall horses. James inspected the riders with a practiced eye. Zechs had an excellent seat, he rode like he'd been born on a horse. Heero also had a good seat. He sat his horse like a showman. Wufei was a little off center, so James went to adjust the stirrups for him

When he was finished Wufei nodded to him. "Thank you. It's been so long since I've ridden, I hope I don't make a fool of myself."

James smiled up at Wufei. "Don't worry, sir. You'll do fine. Just remember that Master Zechs is an excellent rider and don't try to throw your heart over a jump that's too much for you. You're more liable to lose his respect that way than by refusing a jump that might hurt you and your horse. Good luck to you. I'd better get back to Master Duo."

Duo was eying the horses with disgust. "They're all giants. How tall is that brutethat Heero's riding?"

James grinned. "He's about seventeen hands. Not that big, as Master Zechs' horses go."

Duo snorted. "Well, get me on this beast. We better get going if I'm gonna see anything much."

So James helped Duo mount, which Duo found was called 'throwing' him into the saddle. He settled into the saddle and gathered the reins up. James talked to him all the way through the process, which Duo found to be comforting.

The mare wanted to follow James on his taller sorrel gelding, so Duo just held the reins like James showed him and relaxed as much as he could.

Heero watched from the height of his larger horse as Duo rode out following James. He winced as Duo bounced awkwardly. He wondered if this was a mistake, but he wanted to ride so very badly.

Wufei smiled at Zechs who was also watching Duo. "Zechs, don't look so worried. I'm sure that James will make sure Duo comes to no harm. Besides, Duo's tough, if he falls off, he'll probably just swear and get back on. If he doesn't decide to walk instead."

Zechs turned to Wufei and shrugged. "Our Duo's a big boy. But I am a little worried. If Miranda manages to unseat Duo. Heero will turn her into cat meat."

Wufei snorted. "If Duo doesn't do it first, and leave Heero the remains. And you know it."

Zechs made a rueful face. "Yes I do. But Miranda is a good mount and James is excellent. I really don't think we have much to worry about, so I'm not." With that Zechs gave his horse the office to walk.

Heero and Wufei followed him out of the stable yard and onto the bridle path for the short ride to the beginning of the jumping course. It was nice that the estate bordered on the club grounds.

Zechs set the pace at a gentle canter and Heero and Wufei followed. They cantered down the path enjoying the view and getting accustomed to their mounts.

Heero realized that Zechs had led them into a cross country course that was part of the club grounds which abutted their property. The jumps were all different, with an arrowhead, and an oxer back to back, then an in and out, after that there were only a few fences, but the last jump was what was called a ditch and dike, or bank and ditch.

This was a combination jump, with a berm of dirt built up then a ditch. This forced the horse to jump from ground level up to the top of the pile of dirt then down again. But the horse also had to clear the water filled ditch.

Duo and James rode a short route between the features that James wanted Duo to see, but the other party of riders followed a set course from one jump to the next.

James made sure that Duo saw it all. Duo was impressed with Heero's horsemanship and said so. He also complimented Zechs and Wufei. But James could see that his eyes were really only for Heero.

Duo groaned. He couldn't believe it. The group had turned after the bank and ditch and were headed away from Duo and James. "Where the hell are they going? I thought that the club wasjust over the hill."

"Yes, sir, it is. I believe they're going to go around again. The horses are fresh and in good condition. Would you like to watch some more?"

Duo stood up in the stirrups and grimaced. "Not really. We'd have to ride all the way back to the beginning too. I don't think so." He sat back down in the saddle again. "How the hell can anything stuffed with hay be this uncomfortable?"

James grinned at Duo. "It's the saddle sir. If you'd prefer, I can take you on to the club."

Duo sent one longing look at the rapidly disappearing group, then decided he'd rather go on to the club.

Zechs was in seventh heaven, he hadn't been on a horse in so long that it was sad. He glanced over his shoulder to see Heero and Wufei following his lead. He was also proud to see that they allowed safe distance between them.

The ride was fun, exhilarating, Wufei couldn't help grinning foolishly as Zechs rode like a mad man. He jumped everything he saw.

Heero followed Wufei and admired his seat, Wufei sat his horse firmly, without the 'flapping' elbows of someone who thought they could ride. He wasn't inspired like Zechs, but workman like and comfortable with his skills.

Heero never realized that he rode as well as Zechs, with flair and panache. And a total lack of fear. They were both careful of their horses but if the horse would jump they would too.

The pulled up in the shade of a large tree to discus whether they were going to go around the course again.

"Heero, I'm game if you are. Wufei?" Zechs looked to Wufei for his answer.

Wufei shrugged. "I'm game if you are. Heero?"

Heero grinned at his two companions. "I'll go again. But what about Duo?"

"James will take him back around, or if he's tired, he'll take him on to the club. I trust James, he's a good man. 'Round again?"

Heero nodded, Wufei just turned his horse into the first leg of the course.

They stopped at an oxer to check Wufei's girth, which was loose. Zechs tightened it and snuck a quick squeeze to Wufei's thigh. Heero noticed but didn't say anything.

They rode the rest of the course taking it carefully so as not to unduly tire the horses. Or themselves.

The last jump was the bank and ditch again, but while they'd been running the course someone had set up a fence three strides away from the ditch. They only had time to collect their horses and hope before they were rushing on the fence.

Zechs cleared easily, his horse was large and powerful. All he had to do was collect him and give him the office to jump. Heero didn't have much trouble either as he was warned by Zechs shout.

But Wufei had fallen behind just enough that the fence was a nasty surprise.

His horse refused the jump, jamming straight legs into the ground and then bucking. Wufei took a header right over the horse's shoulder and into the water-filled ditch. His aborted cry alerted Heero and Zechs that something was wrong.

Zechs got back first and dismounted with a quick kick of long legs. He tossed his reins to Heero and snarled as he realized that Wufei had hit his head on something in the ditch.

Heero gave Zechs one long look, then dismounted, ground tied both horses, and ran to help. Between them they checked Wufei for broken bones, not finding any, Heero got out of the way and let Zechs take it from there.

Zechs lifted Wufei from the water and carefully carried him to the bank of the ditch. He settled him on his back and took one small hand in his own. "Wufei, please. Open your eyes. I need to see if you have a concussion. Fei?"

Wufei grumbled. "Ow! Damned beast. Refused. My head." Wufei started to sit up, but Zechs stopped him with a soft touch.

"Stay there. If you try to sit up . . ."

Wufei sat up, and was promptly and thoroughly sick. Zechs held him while he retched then used his handkerchief to wipe his mouth.

"I'm sorry. That is disgusting . . . and I'm wet."

"You fell into the ditch. Let me look at your head."

Zechs ran a hand over Wufei's head and found a nasty lump just behind his ear. He turned to look at Heero who just raised an eyebrow and remarked, "He'll be ok. His head is as hard as Duo's. But we should get him somewhere so he can lie down."

Wufei started to protest but decided that he wasn't going to make a fool of himself by arguing with Zechs. Zechs was in full protector mode and wouldn't listen to him. Besides his head hurt like fury.

Heero held the horses and let Wufei lean on him while Zechs mounted. Then he helped Wufei mount in front of Zechs.

Wufei eyed Heero for a moment. "And you're being so quiet because?"

"Zechs will rip off my head if I get in his way. And I can't shield you from the chill like he can."

Zechs just smirked. ཁAnd don't you forget it . . . Wufei, it's cold enough that you'll freeze. We're all wet, but you're soaked through. Be still."

Wufei settled against Zechs with a soft grumble. "I'm ok. Just took a knock on the head."

Zechs pulled Wufei against his chest and rumbled softly. "Don't be silly. That was a nasty knock. Just relax . . . unless my touch is repulsive?"

"Not repulsive. Just . . . unnecessary."

"To whom?"

Wufei decided to just shut up and enjoy the warmth radiating from Zechs. He had to admit that he was chilled.

James took Duo on to the club, with a few backward glances of his own. He really wanted to watch the others go through the jumps again, but he knew that he had to stay with Duo until he got to the clubhouse.

When they got to the club house stables, James took charge of the horses and told Duo to go to the main part of the complex.

Duo entered the house through the stable side door and was met by a rather snooty man in a fancy uniform.

"Stable boys aren't allowed in the club proper. Go to the back door and wait for your master there."

Duo snorted. "I'm a guest. Merquise asked me."

"Indeed?" The man looked down his nose at Duo, which wasn't hard as he was a good foot taller than Duo.

Duo got defensive. "Yah, he did. He's tryin' ta break his neck on that jumpin' track right now. So can I get a soda, or what?"

"Or what, you impudent young whelp. I said to wait at the back door and I meant it."

Just as the man risked getting his arm broken, a sharp voice snapped, "Exactly what is going on here?"

Duo recognized that voice at once.

"Lady Relena. Hi."

Relena eyed Duo's disheveled appearance with a tiny smile. "Jumping? I didn't know you could ride."

Duo shook his head. "Not me. Never again. Heero and the other's are out on the track tryin' ta kill themselves right now. The groom, or whatever he's called, brought me on ahead, but they won't let me in." Duo rubbed the back of his neck "Give a guy a hand, will ya?"

Relena managed to look down her nose at the footman. Then she gave a tiny sniff. "Are we going to be forced to stand in this chilly entryway all day, or will you kindly move aside."

The footman gulped, he was very uncomfortable now. He looked from Relena to the scruffy long haired boy and then snapped to attention. He opened the door to the sitting room and ushered Relena in, Duo followed, giving the man a nasty look.

"Thanks, I didn't think that . . . un . . . he was going to let me in. I can just see the look on their faces when they found me at the back door."

Relena motioned Duo to a chair with a delicate shudder. "Oh, no thank you very much. I don't even want to think about it. Milliardo would have been very upset."

Duo snorted rudely. "Not exactly what I was going to say. More like 'go ballistic'. But now that I think about it. You a member?"

Relena nodded. "Yes. The Peacecraft family is a founding family. We helped start the club in the 1960's old calendar. It's quite old. And . . . oh, tea?"

Duo would rather have had soda but if Relena was offering, he was accepting. "Um . . . tea's fine. If you can stand the way I drink it. Wufei says I'm a barbarian, and even Heero rolls his eyes."

Relena settled into her chair and prepared to play 'mother'. "I remember. Two sugars, double milk. Milk in first."

Duo blinked, he'd had tea with her once, months ago. And it had been during the trials.

"Wow. I don't believe you remembered." Duo accepted the cup and sneered rudely at the footman. "Thank you, my lady."

Relena glanced at the footman, then bowed her head slightly. "You may call me Lena if you like." The footman turned pale.

"Well, I'm honored. Lena. Thank you." Duo realized that the man had put the cake out of Relena's reach. "Let me." Duo handed Relena the cake plate balancing his cup, spoon and cake plate with practiced ease.

"Thank you. Duo, I need to ask you a question in the strictest confidence. Please."

"Ask. I may have to say 'no comment' or even 'I don't know' but feel free to ask." Duo sipped tea while Relena composed her question.

"I know Quatre is up to something . . . um . . . major. Do you know what it is? Please feel free to tell me if you know. I'm mum as a nun. But I need to know, so that I can be prepared. You understand?"

Duo nodded. "I'd tell you if I knew. I think he's playing his cards really close to the chest just now. If something blows up in his face, he'll be the only one burnt."

Relena frowned, making Duo want to smooth out the tiny crease between her eyebrows. "Well, I find that very considerate of him." Relena gave Duo a level look then sighed. "No, I can see that you're not holding out on me. Sorry. I . . . oh, dear. I just wish he'd let me help more. He's so . . . drat that man."

Duo shrugged. "He's got trouble with some of his sisters still. They're . . . ahem. Never mind. You know what I mean. But he wants to secure our futures. ESUN still wants to . . . forget us by shoving us into the bad boy box and locking us away. I still have nightmares about winding up . . ." Duo snapped his mouth shut, realizing that what he was about to say would probably shock Relena to death.

"Winding up Bubba's butt monkey? I'm not completely stupid. I know what goes on in prisons. Unfortunately. That's one of the reasons I'm still visiting them. I'm trying to get the wardens to see that that sort of behavior doesn't help . . . Duo, you look positively green. Are you all right?"

Duo was trying to keep from choking on the sip of tea he'd taken just before Relena had shocked him to his toes. He hadn't known that Relena even knew the words, much less what they meant.

"Dammit, Relena. Ladies don't talk like that. You shouldn't . . ."

"Oh, please." Relena rolled her eyes. "I did extensive research the minute I realized that Milliardo and Heero were going to be sentenced. I'm just glad that between us Quatre and I managed to keep the rest of you out of jail. And that little trick Quatre pulled with the name switch and getting the papers lost etc. so that Heero went to that juvenile center instead of that horrible . . . I forget the name. But anyway. "

Duo was looking at Relena with a deer in the headlights expression that made her trail off then start laughing.

"Duo, please. I'm a politician. And a very good one. I don't like abuse of power, but sometimes things can be . . . adjusted . . . in the name of justice. Or just plain common sense. So don't tell but remember. I can and will use my power to help you all I can . . . unless it conflicts with the greater good. Then you're on your own."

Duo grinned. "Well, that's nice to know. I mean . . . nice to know we can depend on you unless it's . . . I think I'll shut up now."

Relena eyed him over the edge of her cup for a moment. "I'd like to be able to promise you unconditional help, but I just can't. For which I am truly sorry. But there you are. Conflicting obligations don't help anyone. I'm juggling so many balls just now that I'm afraid I'll drop something delicate. If you know what I mean."

Duo did and shrugged. "I guess I'm just used to the way we were during the war. Everyone was against us for a while there. We learned that all we had to count on was each other. So . . . I know you want to promise us the world on a plate. But you have lots of stuff to consider. I do understand. I just don't like it."

"Well, this is thoroughly depressing. Shall we change the subject?"

Duo nodded. "Sure. How 'bout those Mets?"

Relena blinked. "Excuse me? Meets? Which meets?"

Duo laughed. "No. The Mets. Baseball. Not a clue, right?"

Relena shook her head with a light laugh. "Oh, baseball. American foolishness. Footer is much better. I like Manchester United."

Duo rolled his eyes. "Well, don't tell Zechs that. He'll spend the next two hours explaining why Hampton Heath is sooooo much better. I'll have a nice nap and Heero will just kindly explain that basket ball is really where it's at. Personally, I'd rather talk about verners. Or gear ratios. Or oxy demands."

There was a loud clatter in the hallway just then and Zechs entered, with Wufei in his arms.

Duo jumped up putting his tea cup down with a sharp click. He pushed the chair back and hauled the coffee table out of the path between Zechs and the couch. Zechs took advantage of the clear path and carefully put Wufei down.

"He took a header and he's chilled and dizzy. Get . . . oh tea. Good . . . ." Zechs took the tea from Relena without even seeing her.

"Wufei, you must drink this. You're shivering. Damn. You need dry clothing and I want a doctor to look at you."

Heero gently put Zechs out of his way. He knelt down in front of Zechs and eyed Wufei. Duo stood ready to go find whatever Heero asked for. Relena watched from the sidelines, dumb struck to see them all in combat mode.

ཁLook at me . . ." Heero eyed Wufei's pupils. "Not blown. Not uneven. Dizzy?" Wufei grunted. He wasn't about to nod. "Ok, you're cold as a frog. Duo, blankets and a hot water bottle. Wine bottle full of hot water if nothing else. Go."

Duo started to leave the room but was forced to jump out of the way as the door popped open and a gray haired, distinguished looking man hurried in.

"You . . . boy. Get the footman to bring a hot water bottle and my kit from my car. . . Master Milliardo. I heard there'd been a spill. This the young man?"

Zechs got up from his place on one knee behind Heero and held out his hand. Heero stood too.

"Yes, took a nasty one. Landed on his head in the ditch at the bank and ditch. Someone put up a fence while we were taking our second go 'round. Horse refused. He's soaked through . . ." Zechs laughed slightly. "Well, we all are. Splashing about in a ditch, you know."

The doctor smiled then turned to Wufei. "Well, young 'un. Let me take a look at you." The doctor did doctor things and declared Wufei. "Good enough. You'll have a hell of a head. But other than a nasty bump, I don't see much wrong. No concussion. And the chills are just from being cold. Get him dry and warm. Doctor his tea with some rum and let him rest a while."

Zechs looked for a footman, but Duo was already on the job. Relena had fixed Wufei another cup of tea which she now handed to him. Duo returned from the depths of the club with a trail of footmen and club officials, a warmed blanket and a hot water bottle. As well as dry clothing for all three men. They quickly changed into the dry things.

Heero went aside with one of the hunt masters, who wanted details of exactly what had happened.

The rest of the people followed the doctor's orders and wrapped Wufei in the warmed blanket tucking him in with the hot water bottle. Much to his embarrassment.

Zechs finally settled down in a chair next to the couch as close to Wufei as he could get. Heero settled on a love seat with Duo, where he quickly explained what had happened to him.

Relena watched it all with quick eyes and a slightly stunned expression. Everything had moved so fast that all she knew was that Wufei had fallen.

"Well, that was exciting. What happened, please?"

So Zechs started explaining what had happened. The footman brought more tea and cakes and sandwiches. Relena made appropriate noises at appropriate times and horrified faces as well. Duo enjoyed the story because he was watching Relena. Heero grunted once in a while, usually when Duo jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow.

They never noticed the people who peeked in the open French doors to watch the laughing, chattering group of young people.

They sat and visited for a while and Relena made the mistake of mentioning football, which made Duo and Wufei groan. Zechs immediately changed tack from football to headaches. Wufei shamelessly claimed a headache as excuse to lean back and close his eyes.

"If you're going to talk footer, please just ignore me. I'll take a short nap, then I'll be ready to return home. By car, if you don't mind"

Zechs claimed his hand and settled back in his chair declaring that he also needed a nap.

Relena gave Duo a pleading look, which he smiled at.

"I'd like to speak to Heero . . . alone. If you don't mind, Duo."

Duo grinned at her. "Got eyes for my boyfriend?" Relena mock glared at Duo. "Ok, ok. I don't mind. I'll go take a walk in the garden. Don't do . . . well, um . . . never mind."

Heero snickered at Duo, who glared back.

Relena and Heero slipped out the door quietly and found a smaller sitting room to settle in.

"Tea?" Relena grimaced. "Oh, no. I couldn't. I'll slosh as I walk soon."

Heero put an afghan over her legs and settled in a chair. "What did you want to talk about?"

Relena sighed and shifted uncomfortably. "I . . . you . . . oh, dear. Darn it."

"Relena, whatever it is, you can ask or tell me. You know that. So, just spit it out before you choke on it."

Relena settled her nerves. "I want to apologize to you for my actions during the war. I know I was a complete pest. I'm sorry."

Heero shrugged. "It's fine. You've done nothing but try to help us since the end of the war. I think you've done more that enough to make up for anything you did. Don't mention it again."

Relena sighed. "Thank you. I hope . . . well. That's another thing. You and Duo . . . you're a couple?"

Heero smiled gently. "Yes. You knew that. So . . . ?"

"Are you getting married? I mean . . . um . . . whatever they're calling it now."

"It's actually a civil contract. But most same sex couples have some sort of ceremony. You're invited . . . when we get around to something. I haven't actually asked him. And he won't ask me. Too shy."

Relena frankly goggled. "Maxwell, shy? In what alternate universe?"

"He is. He acts like he doesn't care. But he does . . . very deeply. I think he's afraid I'll say no. Or something."

Heero wished for a cup of something, so he could hide his expression in it.

"OH . . . for pity's sake. Don't make that face. He'll fall on your neck. I was so hoping that you'd let me make the announcement."

Heero shrugged and allowed that when he worked up the nerve to ask she was more than welcome to make their announcement. Then dropped a bomb he didn't even know he had.

"And Zechs and Wufei will want you to make their announcement too, I'm sure."

Relena made a strangling sound. "Milliardo? And Chang? Oh, my. That's news to me. But . . . well . . . Noin . . . damn that woman anyway. Why'd she have to take off to Mars like that?"

Heero gave Relena. a sharp look. "You don't like Wufei and Zechs together? I'm slightly disappointed. They make each other happy."

Relena shook her head quickly. "Not a bit of it. I don't care who he's with, as long as they're happy. In fact, this is good. The chances of anyone taking advantage of a child are now gone. That's good. I'm just sad that Milliardo and Noin couldn't make a go of it. This whole thing is a nuisance. I have to make some . . . political hay while the sun shines so to speak. Long term plans. If you're interested, I'll explain."

Heero was, so she did. It seemed that, as long as Zechs and Noin were an item, there was a chance that someone would claim that their child was more entitled to the throne of Sanq than Relena. Which would cause all kinds of trouble with succession and political influence. But since one of the requirements of same sex marriages in the line of succession was abdication it cleared up several problems for both Relena and Zechs.

But Relena was still mad at Noin for taking off to Mars when Zechs was so emotionally unstable. It 'just wasn't nice' was all she would say, but Heero could see that she was hurt for Zechs. After a while he just sat and listened as Relena poured out her troubles, he didn't understand some of the things she talked about, others upset him just as much. He realized that Relena didn't have many people she could just vent to. He settled in for a long session of grunts and knowing nods.

Duo unashamedly listened in for a few minutes, if Relena was going to upset Heero, he was going to butt in and stop her. But he soon realized the same thing Heero did. She just wanted to let things out.

Why she felt she couldn't talk to him, Duo didn't understand but Heero didn't seem to want to get away from her so Duo decided to take that walk in the garden.

He walked up and down the paths and found that the garden was very nice, peaceful and cool. He heard voices, but decided that he didn't feel sociable. He hid behind a large Graham Thomas rose bush and waited until the girl, her boyfriend and a small dog were gone.

Duo decided he needed to check on Wufei and Zechs. They had both claimed a need for sleep, but how either of them could sleep in that open room was beyond him. So he felt a need to check on them to see if they were all right. Sometimes he just ignored things like that but right now he was feeling needy. Not jealous of the queen of the world, not him, not much. He snorted at his own insecurities and catered to them.

Zechs opened his eyes as the door creaked slightly. He saw Duo peeking in and motioned for him to come on in.

"I'm awake. Come on in"

Wufei stirred and reached for Zechs in his sleep.

"Should he be sleeping?"

Zechs shrugged. "The doctor said it would be all right. I've known him most of my life. If you're worried, I could send for him and asks him again."

Duo thought for a second then nodded. "I wish you would."

Zechs just picked up a small remote with a single button on it and pressed it. They waited for a moment until a footman stuck his head in the room. When Zechs asked him to see if Dr. Smythe would come back, he just nodded and closed the door.

Duo jittered around the room until the doctor showed up to check Wufei. Zechs merely asked if Wufei should sleep so much. Dr. Smythe walked over to look at Wufei again.

Wufei opened one indignant eye when the doctor gently shook him. Dr. Smythe put his paper down on the table and checked Wufei over again.

"Well, I don't see anything different from what I saw twenty minutes ago. He's shivered himself into a mild state of exhaustion. He's physically and mentally worn out. All this hoo ha with that Leo and everything before. It's a wonder you all aren't running on fumes. You need to relax, have some fun. Milliardo, you should see if you can't get invites to that ball tomorrow night. Dancing, wine, food, good company. I won't say of your peers, that's outrageous. Well, you need me, send for me."

Zechs looked at Duo who just shrugged. Wufei grumbled under his breath. "I don't see what you have against me getting some rest. I'm tired. Leave me alone."

Duo raised an eyebrow at Zechs who just patted Wufei's hand. "All right my grumpy dragon. Go back to sleep."

Zechs settled himself back in his chair and dozed off again too. Duo picked up the paper from the side table and started to read it.

After he read it, he checked on Heero and Relena. They were still talking, or Relena was talking and Heero was nodding. Zechs was still dozing with Wufei's hand in his. Wufei was half awake and shivering slightly, so Duo pulled the blanked up a little more and tucked it in. Wufei mumbled 'thank you' and promptly went back to sleep.

Duo sat back down and picked the paper up again. There was nothing else to read, but there were puzzles on one page. So Duo opened the drawer in the end table and found a pen.

He settled in to work the crossword, then, as Wufei and Zechs showed no sign of waking and Heero and Relena were still in the smaller sitting room, he worked the sudoku. It didn't take him long to fill in the numbers, but he counted the squares any way. The nine by nine puzzle was divided into nine squares of nine numbers each. He counted eighty one numbers so he knew it was done properly.

Duo startled at the voice from the door.

"Excuse me. Have you seen my paper?"

Duo grimaced. "Um . . . here it is. I . . . sorry. . . I worked . . . "

The doctor gave him a funny look. "You didn't. I swear."

"Look, I said I'm sorry. I'll buy you a new paper.

Dr. Smythe sighed. "It's not that."

Zechs and Wufei were both awake. Zechs stood up and took the paper from Duo's hand. "I'm sorry too. It doesn't do any good to be ugly with him. He didn't mean any harm. And you did leave it here."

Dr. Smythe held up a hand. "If you'll let me explain." Zechs inclined a regal head. "He worked the sudoku, and the crossword, in about an hour. In pen."

Zechs raised an eyebrow. "I'm missing something, I think." He missed the look Wufei and Duo exchanged.

The doctor was glad to explain. "It takes an average of two hours to work the crossword, with a minimum of eight mistakes. The sudoku usually takes half to three quarters of an hour and requires pencil marks. Only he did both in an hour, in pen, without cross outs. Quite a feat and most annoying."

Duo wisely didn't tell the doctor that he'd spent twenty minutes of the hour reading the paper first.

Wufei snorted softly. This was one of Duo's guilty little secrets. He loved puzzles of any kind. Logic, crossword, circle a word, sudoku. Anything. Wufei remembered a time when Duo would shut himself up in his room and work his way through a whole book of puzzles in a single night. Or spend the whole night online working puzzle after puzzle alternating with hitting the check messages button on his email.

Duo met his eyes and gave him a sympathetic twitch of the lips.

Zechs sympathized with the man and asked again if he wanted a new paper. Dr. Smythe refused remarking that it was nothing but jealousy. "The young man is incredibly intelligent. He should go into science of some sort. See that his counselors don't spoil him." With that he left, shaking his head.

Duo rolled his eyes at Wufei again and Zechs caught it. "Ok what's up?"

Wufei shrugged. "We're all in advanced Masters courses by internet. None of us can attend regular school. Can you imagine the chaos we'd create? So we all have multiple majors. Mostly sciences."

Zechs sighed. "You are all incredible. I remember that Heero was taking internet classes. What the hell are you going to do with your lives? You can't just wander around doing nothing. You'll waste your lives."

Duo laughed. "Zechs . . . please . . . we could use some time to just be us. Find out what we want to do. Get the head on straight, that sort of thing. Frankly, I just wanna spend about a year with Heero, surfing, snow boarding. Whatever we can do. Ya know?"

Wufei shook his head. "I want to spend some time in study. My calligraphy has suffered. And I've always wanted to continue sumi-i. Heero just wants to be with Duo. Quatre and Trowa are in space, doing something or other."

Duo looked from Wufei to Zechs. "And what would you like to do, Zechs? I mean really. If you could do anything you wanted?"

Zechs just shrugged. "I want to be with Wufei. I don't care where we are or what we do. And I think I have a way to do exactly that."

Wufei looked at Zechs who just smiled at him and asked him, "Would you mind if I keep my plans to myself until I can be sure?"

Wufei nodded his acceptance of the request, but he smiled slightly. If Zechs had plans the chances of them falling through were slim and none.

Heero and Relena were still talking when Zechs decided Wufei needed to go home. So he called for a car and told Duo that he was welcome to come with them or stay and wait for Heero. Duo decided to wait there.

That left Duo to wander around the club some more. This time he didn't have trouble with the footmen or any of the rest of the help, but he was bored. And a bored Duo usually wound up in some kind of trouble.

This time it was simple. He couldn't stand cruelty to animals and he had to intervene when he saw the girl kick her dog.

"Hey, stop that. What the hell is wrong with you."

Duo scooped the little dog up with one hand and fended off the boyfriend with the other.

"Who do you think you are? If Missy wants to discipline Binky, it's her dog."

Duo gave the boy a disgusted look. "Discipline is one thing cruelty is another."

The girl made a disgusted face. "Well, she's stupid, and she smells. She won't do anything she's supposed to. Like sit, or fetch, or anything. For two cents I'd . . . well. Something."

Duo reached into his pocket and pulled out two copper disks. He tossed them at her feet and announced. "Here. Two cents. Dog's mine now. Take off."

The girl made a rude noise and started to say something. Duo stood up with the little dog in his arms. "Something?" But the look on Duo's face said it better not be anything.

Boyfriend decided to make it something. "Look, I said I don't know who you are, but that's Missy's dog. You better put her down before I do something I'm gonna regret."

Duo blinked at the boy for a second, then started laughing. "Buddy, you better check your attitude. It'll get you killed. You don't know who I am so I'll tell you. Duo Maxwell, that's who."

Missy turned an astonishing shad of puce, boyfriend turned so pale he looked blue. Then a soft voice cut through the silence like a knife.

"Duo, you all right? What's the problem?" Heero strode up to them with a look on his face that would have scared a marble statue. It terrified Missy and made her escort start cautiously edging them both away.

"Heero, what's this? Duo, what a cute dog. Where did you . . . oh, it's . . . bunky. Binky. What ever." Relena gave Missy a tight lipped look. "You need to get her groomed. She's all matted."

Missy immediately dumped the whole mess in Duo's lap. "She's his dog now. He bought her. Come on Max, let's go."

Relena stopped them with a soft, "Staya moment." When they turned to her, she told Missy to be sure to send Duo the dog's papers. "So he can show her if he wants. Although . . . Duo?"

Duo just shrugged. "If she's got papers, I want them." He gave Max a look that made him start sweating. "You can go now. Bye."

Relena watched as the two quickly made their escape. "Well, Duo I've always said that girl didn't have the sense god gave a goose. What did she do?"

Duo was cuddling the dog despite the atrocious smell. "She kicked her. I don't think she did anything to deserve it either. She's a nasty thing, isn't she Binky. And is that a stupid name for a dog or what?"

Relena gave a little sniff of disdain. "That girl shouldn't be allowed to keep a goldfish, never mind a dog. But . . . I have to say . . . um . . . she does smell."

Duo gave Relena a funny look. "A little soap, a little warm water. All it takes. And it's not like it's the dog's fault."

Heero reached out and gently took the dog from Duo. He sat her on the ground and just looked at her.

Duo suddenly paled. "Um . . . Heero, we gotta keep her. You know I can't just. . . "

Heero smiled at Duo. "You want her, you keep her. But there's something wrong with her. She's not moving right. She . . . Relena?"

Relena was shaking her head slowly from side to side. "Oh, she didn't . . . that stupid, stupid girl."

Duo gave Relena an anguished look. "She's not . . . sick . . . or anything. Is she?"

Relena reached out and patted Duo's arm. "No. I'm sorry I scared you. She's all matted. And she needs her toenails clipped."

Heero picked Binky up and carefully felt along her sides and under her belly. The poor little dog just let him. "She looks good, but it's all surface. They brushed her top coat but her undercoat is matted. Her legs are matted to her belly. Give me your knife."

Duo pulled his knife out of his braid and handed it to Heero. Heero took it and settled on the ground with the dog between his legs. He coaxed and cajoled until the little dog let him turn her over on her back. Her legs were indeed matted to her belly. She was nearly crippled by the mess of hair and unidentified 'stuff.'

Heero gently pulled her leg away from her body, then neatly sliced through the mat. She yelped, then tried to lick his hand.

"No! Silly girl. That's a knife. You'll get cut. Good girl." Heero repeated the operation on the other side and remarked that he really needed a pair of clippers so he could shave away the mess.

Relena just nodded. "I'll call one of the footmen and send her to be groomed. She'll probably have to be shaved to the skin . . ." Relena saw Duo's horrified look. "Oh don't be such a baby. It won't hurt her. In fact it'll probably make her feel much better."

So Duo allowed Relena to give the orders, Heero hid his smile behind his hand and Duo Maxwell, Gundam pilot, was now the proud owner of a Maltese named "Binky."


	29. Having a Ball: Part I

The Price 29

Having a Ball.

Author notes: after Relena and Wufei speak to each other at the ball, marked by , the story splits into two parts. One part is what is happening to Heero and Duo the other what is happening to Zechs and Wufei simultaneously. The two threads converge again at.

And I'm ashamed to admit that I completely forgot to thank Shenlong Deb for the help with the pics of jumps. Sorry. And Thanks So Much.

Relena sent out the invitations to her ball. She was stalling a little, she knew. But she was worried about the response of her most desired guests.

Dorothy Catalonia stuck her head around the edge of the door and smirked.

"You want to come collect this mutt or what?"

Relena looked at Doro in confusion. "Mutt? What are you talking about?"

"Dog. Long hair, mushed in face. Belongs to Maxwell?"

But . . . what is Binky doing here?"

Dorothy laughed at Relena. "You sent her to the groomers with explicit instructions on what was to be done. They assumed she belongs to you. So they sent her back to us. She's whining like crazy. You better get her home."

Relena sighed, she really didn't have time for this right now. She had the final plans for her ball to complete. She started to say something to Dorothy then she changed her mind. She didn't have a personal assistant for nothing as said personal assistant, Dorothy Catalonia,was constantly telling her.

"Well, since I was remiss in making sure that the groomer knew where to send Binky, I guess I should take her home myself. Call the driver, please."

Dorothy nearly fell over, literally. This was the first time she could remember that Relena did what she wanted instead of what she ought. She plastered a smile on her face, called the driver then had a mini break down. She was going to have to hustle like crazy to get every thing done on time.

"Drat that girl."

Duo was laying on the floor of the conservatory, nibbling on his last piece of toast. Wufei had tried to go down to the gym and wound up dumped on the chaise loungehere instead. Zechs had pulled the 'I'm bigger than you' card. Wufei was still sulking.

Zechs was trying to coax Wufei out of his sulks by offering him outrageous presents, which Wufei was scornfully refusing.

Heero was reading the paper, absently listening to the lover's quarrel with one ear. Duo poked his ankle with his bare toes and, when Heero looked at him around the paper, made a face at him. Heero simpered backat Duo, who snickered back and returned to his toast, Heero returned to his paper.

The door bell was answered by one of the footmen. He came to the conservatory to announce the visitor, but he was interrupted by the scrabbling of tiny paws and Relena's voice calling, "Binky, no."

Duo rolled over just in time to have a small bundle of white fur jump on his stomach. He laughed delightedly and caught the little dog to his chest.

"Hey, little girl. How are you?" Duo grinned up at Relena. "Hey! Relena. What are you doing with her? Lookin' good, by the way."

Relena did look good. She was wearing a pair of dark grey wool slacks and a steel blue blouse. The blouse was cut in the popular poets style, with an open throat and full sleeves. Her golden blond hair was done in a simple, elegant French roll. She dimpled at Duo and nodded to Wufei.

Relena settled at the small ice cream parlor table. "The groomer sent her back to me just this minute. They thought she was mine. So I thought I'd better bring her."

Heero gave the little dog a rather stunned look and stood up suddenly. Duo dumped Binky onto Wufei and rushed to him.

"Oh, 'Ro. I . . . sorry . . . if you don't like her. I'll . . . find someplace for her."

Heero put his arms around Duo. Duo's disappointment was plain in his voice. Heero got himself together quickly.

"No. It's all right. I just . . . need a minute. She's nothing like Mary. I . . . just . . . you know, I never did find out what that little girl's name was? Kind of makes me feel . . . odd."

Duo held onto Heero until he got himself together. Then they went to see Binky.

Wufei was eyeing her with an amused expression on his face. Duo blinked at him for a second, he'd figured that Wufei would be highly indignant at having a lap dog dumped on him.

Zechs was just standing watching Wufei with a slightly stunned expression of his own.

Relena approached Duo and Heero carefully. She'd finally learned that it was dangerous to rush at them by seeing one of her Preventer body guards nearly get his arm broken. He'd put hands on Duo, Heero had objected.

"Heero, are you all right? Did I do something?"

Duo gave Relena one of his thousand watt smiles and Relena looked back in disgust. "Do not even start."

Heero patted Duo and just shook his head at Relena. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Small dogs . . . upset me sometimes." Heero turned to Duo. "If you want Binky, we'll keep her. I . . . think I'd like to talk to Dr. Terry. Duo, love, don't look at me like that. I'll be fine. I'm going to phone now." Heero just walked out the side door into the hall, and disappeared.

Duo sighed happily, he'd been bracing himself against having to give Binky away. He really wanted to keep her. One of his childhood dreams had been to have a dog. He couldn't care less that a Maltese wasn't considered a 'manly' dog. He was already in love. Trust Heero to put Duo's needs above his own.

Wufei was gently stroking the little dog and talking to her in Chinese.

"What kind of hair cut is that? I thought she was supposed to have . . . longer hair?"

Duo couldn't help but feel bad for the little dog. He'd known that her coat was in bad shape but he'd had visions of cutting off the mats and then combing her out.

Instead, the groomer had shaved her closely and right down to the skin in a few places.

"It's a 'teddy bear' cut." Relena was happy to explain what the groomer had done. "She was so matted that they didn't have a choice. I gave her medicine to the footman. And I had the groomer send a fax of all the instructions. She's too thin, she's got sores where her coat pulled, and she has to be combed every day. You'll have to send your person to the groomer to be instructed." Duo started to say something but Relent interrupted. "I'd really recommend having someone else do it. Then give her treats when they bring her to you. That way she won't associate you with anything bad."

"If she doesn't like being groomed, isn't that a bad thing?"

Duo wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to know, but Wufei nodded, agreeing with Relena.

"She'll have to be medicated for a while, until the sores heal. That will sting. So have someone else do it. That way she won't associate you with being hurt. She's a very sweet little thing."

Relena nodded again and accepted a cup of tea from Zechs. 'Thank you, Milliardo. Oh, and you know how I like it. Well . . . if you want to show her, she'll have to have a show 'cut'. What you probably thinkof as the standard Maltese coat. That is difficult to take care of, so people who don't show their dogs, keep them cut short. The long coat needs combing every day. Every day." Relena repeated herself for emphasis. "But if you keep up with it it only takes a few minutes. Maybe ten or fifteen. You could do her right after gym. While you wait for breakfast. And don't let her sleep with you. That's . . ."

Wufei snorted. "A major disaster. Those two would roll over on her, or stab her. Mistaking her for a threat. She can't sleep with us either, for the same reason. I'll see about finding one of the maids to sleep with her. She'll need a kennel too."

Duo realized that Wufei knew a lot more about dogs than expected.

"Ok 'Fei fess up. What's with this?"

Wufei didn't even bat an eye. "My mother had a Shih Tzu, very . . . fierce. She was called small lion. I loved her a great deal. I would have had a dog sooner, but with one thing and another. Especially Heero's . . . I can't say dislike of. . . Perhaps avoidance of small dogs I never did anything about it." Wufei turned dark liquid pleading eyes on Zechs. "We can keep her, can't we. Please. I know it's your house but. . ." Zechs put one finger against Wufei's lips.

"If you want a dozen dogs, you'll have them. This little princess is just fine. I'm sure any behaviors that are displeasing can be trained out of her."

Zechs smiled at Wufei then turned his smile on Relena and Duo.

After some petting and fussing they all got settled around the table. Tea was brought and they listened as Relena explained everything she knew about the care and feeding of the small animal. Duo took mental notes, Zechs watched his sister with shining eyes and Wufei smiled at them all.

Binky was in seventh heaven. She was clean, shaved down so that the mats didn't pull painfully every time she moved and she'd had a nice breakfast, with treats. Now she was on the lap of a kind handed man who was scratching her ear in just the right place. She sighed and collapsed into a puddle of doggy delight.

Duo poked Zechs in the ankle with bare toes and patted Relena on the hand. Theyall turned to look at Wufei.

He looked right back with a slightly offended expression. "What? She's a perfectly well behaved lady."

Relena sniffed slightly. "Chang, you are not bringing her as your escort to the ball, are you?"

Wufei shook his head. "No, I don't think Zechs will give up his place. Will you, My Ice Prince?"

Relena nearly choked on her tea. "Oh, you two are an item? For sure? Duo said something but I wasn't really sure. Are you planning any . . ."

Zechs held up a hand before Relena ran away with herself. "We are still negotiating our relationship. Don't put the horse before the cart or rush your fences, sister dear."

"Oh, well, all right. But I'm the first, outside your close circle, to know. Or else."

Duo narrowed his eyes. "Or else. . . what?"

Relena twinkled at him. "I'll pout." She stuck out her lower lip to demonstrate.

Zechs shuddered dramatically, making his braid quiver. Binky eyed it with interest. "Heaven help us, not the lip. Please."

"Very well, not the lip. But I promise you the lip, and raise you a wibbly chin, if you don't tell me first when you decide to . . . er . . . declare yourselves."

Promises were duly made, with Duo grinning like a fool and Relena sniffling a bit.

No one noticed the sound at first. Then Duo, always sensitive to anything to do with Heero, noticed the faint sound. He hissed softly "quiet" Relena started to ask a question, then she heard it.

Zechs had heard the sound at the same time Relena did. Wufei smiled, he'd heard it at the same time Duo did.

Heero was somewhere near, playing his whistle. He was playing a happy, jaunty tune called Paddy Breen's Jig. Duo sighed with relief, everything was going to be fine. Heero had reconciled himself to Binky.

Heero sauntered in with his whistle still in his hand. He stuck it in his hip pocket and settled on the foot of the chaise Wufei was reclining on.

"Damn."

"What's the matter?" Duo reached out for Heero who just lifted his hip and pulled the whistle out of his pocket again.

"I bent another one. I wish I could find one that came in sections or something. You know, like the O'Brian one? Only shorter."

Duo eyed the bent whistle for a second. "Can I have that one?"

Heero handed it to him. "Sure, but it's bent and you can't straighten them. I tried, it just broke where the dent was."

Duo just accepted the bent whistle and put it aside. "Got an idea. I need that one for measurements. Don't know if what I have in mind will work, but it's worth a try."

Wufei eyed Duo with interest. If Duo had an idea, it was probably going to be interesting. Duo gave him a sparkling look.

"No, Wufei, it will not explode, shoot darts, or release gas."

Wufei put on a disappointed look. "Well, damn."

Zechs laughed, Relena looked puzzled and Heero had to get up to go give Duo a kiss. Binky tried to lick his face, which made him wrinkle his nose.

"What's the matter?"

Heero laughed. "Dog breath."

Relena let out a little squeak. "Oh, they have mints for that. And tooth paste."

Duo gave Relena a funny look. "Mints? And she'll suck on a breath mint. Right." He drawled out the last word. "You're foolin' me."

"Um. . . no. I'll give you a . . . no, I'll have Catalonia send you some." Relena looked at her watch. "I've got to go. You are all coming to the ball. Right? Don't forget."

Duo shook his head. "I got the invite. We just haven't gotten the tickets yet. When did you send them out?"

Relena gave Duo a puzzled look. "Tickets? Um . . . you don't need tickets to get in. All you need is the invitation."

Wufei just covered his eyes with his hand.

Relena suddenly understood. "OH! I send out informative emails to let everyone know that I'm having ball. They tell me they're coming, then I send out formal invitations. It's so much easier than sending out a bunch of paper invitations then getting RSVP's. It's not traditional, but it is much easier. Security likes it better too. You'll be getting your invitations this afternoon. See you"

Relena walked out the door, heels clicking on the hard wood floor.

Duo and Heero, Wufei and Zechs duly got their invitations. Duo, realizing that the ball was in two days, groaned. He needed to go into his office that Monday, he wasn't sure he'd be up for it if he partied late Saturday night.

Zechs snickered. "I don't think you'll find one of Relena's balls anything like a Sweeper Bash. If you get drunk I personally will whip your ass. Heero or no. Tux and patent leather shoes."

Duo gave Zechs a look that was pure Shinigami. "I'm not completely uncultured. I've been to a ball. The damn thing will go on and on. Probably until three or four in the morning. I don't sleep well after eleven and a nap? Not me. I can't sleep then either. So I'm gonna be a very unhappy puppy on Monday."

Zechs gave Duo an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I didn't think. But if you get tired we can make our excuses at midnight and no one will think a thing about it. Could we just see how things go?"

Heero sighed, he wasn't looking forward to having Duo go into the office. Leaving him there alone. With a house full of servants to be sure but no Duo meant an empty house.

Duo nodded to Zechs. "That's good enough." Then he turned to Heero. "What's with that heavy sigh? You don't want to go to the office Monday?"

Heero blinked slowly as he processed this. "I'm going with you? But . . ."

"Sure are. I know you're better than I am at physical security. I'm a hackers hacker, and I'm good with explosives and stealth. But you're better at camera placement and sensors, buddy, we're an unbeatable team we play to each other's weaknesses. So . . . what? I'm gonna let ya stand around with your dick in your hand? Not a chance. You didn't think I was going to let you just sit around, did you?"

Zechs picked Wufei up and carried him out the door.

Heero ducked his head and looked at Duo from under his bangs. "I wasn't sure what . . . I mean . . . well. I'm still a felon. And Quatre . . ."

Duo dragged Heero to the chaise loungeand sat down next to him. "Ok love, find a thought and cling to it until it makes a sentence."

Heero just hung his head and shrugged. "I don't want to cause you or Quatre any trouble. And lettin' me into the facility will make trouble."

"The guy who gives you trouble will deal with Shinigami and I mean it. You're still in my custody and I don't intend to have you out of sight. You're being foolish. Quatre wants you on the team and you'd know that if you'd stop protecting everybody from whatever you're afraid of. So what the hell is your problem? You want me to call Dr. Terry again?"

Heero bit at his lip for a moment. "I want you to have the normal life I can never have. J screwed me up so bad, I have to be careful constantly not to . . ."

Duo put his hand firmly over Heero's mouth. "Listen. We've all been in therapy for months. Dr. Terry is really good. He evaluated us all again. And he says that we're all fucked up. The best we can hope for is functional, so I don't want to hear the 'N' word again. Hear me? And don't protect me. I'll do that for myself, thank you very much. I need a partner, not a keeper. And so do you. So take a pill and get over it. Love you."

Heero nearly attacked Duo, he grabbed him and held on like his life depended on it. Duo just held back and kissed Heero until they both had to come up for air. Which was a while.

"Where are you taking me? And don't squish Binky."

Zechs just laughed. "Away from the love birds. Library?"

"Put me down, please." Wufei didn't wiggle or kick. It wasn't dignified for one thing, and he really didn't object to being carried that much. "I don't want to frighten the dog."

Zechs let Wufei's feet drop, carefully holding him by the shoulders until he got his feet under him.

"Under protest. I don't want you hurting your head."

"The operative word being head. There's nothing wrong with my feet. Library is fine. We need to find someone to be responsible for Binky when we can't. I don't want her wandering around the house alone. She'll protest that sort of thing by chewing and . . .making messes. Who would you suggest?"

Zechs shrugged and settled himself on the love seat. Wufei settled in a wingback chair and put Binky on the floor. She immediately began to explore this new room. Wufei called her to heal and told her to stay. She didn't, so he called her again. This time she stayed.

"Call the house keeper and we'll ask her who she recommends."

Mrs Brown was duly called and took one look at Binky. "Oh, how sweet. She's so cute. Who's going to take care of her when you're all not around?"

Zechs smiled at the woman's obvious delight, that was going to make things much easier. "I was going to ask you that. Who do you recommend?"

She smiled back. "Me. I love dogs. We had dachshunds when I was young. She's very obedient."

Wufei grimaced. "Not really. But it's just a lack of proper attention, not anything to do with her personality."

Mrs. Brown picked Binky up and cuddled her. "I'll take her away and get her settled. I need to go shopping for some things. How should I charge them off?"

Zechs shrugged. "House hold expenses. Anything she needs. And one of the footmen has medicine and there's a fax floating around somewhere."

Mrs. Brown left with the dog who was happily trying to lick her face, or hand, or whatever bare skin she could reach.

Zechs smiled at Wufei who wondered blankly what he was grinning about.

"Well, that takes care of that. Maxwell will have to be sure to spend time with her every day or she'll forget who she belongs to. Come here."

Wufei stood only to find himself scooped up and plopped into Zechs's lap. "What? You know Duo will love that dog to bits. Heero will tolerate her because Duo loves her. And I like her. I'm sorry if you don't. But . . . mmmmmff"

Zechs stopped Wufei's chatter the best way there was. Wufei didn't object at all, in fact his enthusiasm nearly knocked the love seat over.

The next day and a half went by in a fog of preparations.

Zechs refused to allow any of the pilots to rent a tuxedo. He sent for his tailor and had them measured. He apologized regally for having to rush the man but insisted that all three of them have tailor-made tuxes for the ball. Wufei shook his head and gave the man careful instructions on exactly what he wanted. Duo groaned and Zechs gave in. Especially when Wufei turned his liquid onyx eyes on Zechs in that special pleading look he reserved just for him.

There were also arrangements for Binky. She had to be walked on a regular schedule to prevent accidents. She had to be combed and played with. Duo enjoyed that a great deal and spent part of their play time training her. Heero rather grimly played with them.

Zechs watched that first morning and realized that Heero wasn't unhappy, he just really didn't know what to do. He'd never played with a dog before. Zechs wasn't even sure he'd ever touched a dog.

Mrs. Brown arranged for footmen to walk Binky every three hours. A different one each time so that no one was put out too much by the new pet. And she was careful to pick men who liked animals, rather than just telling someone to walk the dog. That was a sure way to trouble.

Binky was a very happy little dog. She had Duo to play with and Wufei to pet her. Nice men walked her and let her take her time. Her food was set out on a regular schedule. She wasn't much pleased with the medication as it did sting but there were cuddles and treats to make up for it. But the best by her lights was that she was loved.

Zechs was pleased with Binky too. He liked his dogs large, more on the working dog line, but Binky had made all three young men happy so he was pleased as well.

"Wufei, where is that infernal animal?"

Wufei looked up from were he was reclining on a couch reading some obscure manuscript. "Right here. Why?"

Zechs grinned at the two. Binky's head had popped up from behind Wufei's hip.

"Mrs. Brown is looking for her, it's time for her walk." Zechs scooped the dog up from the couch and patted her head. Then he handed her off to the waiting footman, who promptly scratched her behind the ear, tucked her under one arm and left to walk her.

"Did you need something else?"

"Yes. We need to get ready. I want to have one last fitting before we get dressed."

Wufei put his book on the side table and got up. He looked up at Zechs and shivered slightly.

"Fei? What's wrong?"

Wufei smiled "Nothing. I was just thinking that you'll look so elegant in a tux. Do you favor tails or more modern?"

Zechs snorted. "I don't wear tails. With my height I look like a giraffe. An albino giraffe, to quote an old school . . . chum."

Wufei took in Zechs's look and decided the chum had better not say any thing to Zechs to upset him or he'd be chum indeed, as in fish bait.

"Well, I hope you don't mind that I decided to wear traditional robes. I thought it might placate the elders of the clan. I don't want to have to turn their demands against them. But they are getting rather . . . pushy."

Zechs was well aware that, even though Wufei was now the head of the clan, some of the older members of the clan council were becoming demanding. Wufei was holding them off with dignified refusals. Zechs was afraid that they were trying to take Wufei away from him. He couldn't tolerate that.

Wufei thought of the elders as he followed Zechs up to their rooms to try on his robes. He knew that Zechs already had a tux. The elders were demanding that he take his place as head of the clan. They wanted him to marry, produce heirs and manage the clan businesses. Wufei didn't.

Unfortunately for the clan elders, they'd never considered the amount of sheer hard headed stubbornness it had taken to become the pilot of Shenlong, also called Nataku. Wufei was quite willing to manage the clan's business, but he wasn't about to acquire a wife, never mind the concubines he'd been offered. The whole thing smacked of feudalism. So he refused, again and again. He was going to start getting nasty soon.

Zechs had to smile at the traditional robes, they enveloped Wufei, making him look smaller than he really was. Zechs thought the robes were a very bad idea, but refrained from telling Wufei so.

Wufei eyed himself in the mirror and snorted, he looked about six smothered in yards of silk brocade. He rejected the traditional hat with its coral button with every sign of loathing.

"If you don't like them, why wear them?"

"I'm hoping to get the elders off my back for a while. I don't think it'll work, but it's worth a try."

Zechs just grunted. He wasn't fond of the elders.

"What are you going to do if this doesn't work?"

Wufei turned narrowed eyes on Zechs. "Get really nasty really quick. I'm tired of putting them off. I've been as polite as I'm willing to be. They are being quite dishonorable. I am, after all, the eldest of the eldest. And every penny of the money from L5 Chang belongs to me. So they better watch out."

Zechs sucked in a breath. He'd never really thought about it. But Wufei was not only the eldest of the clan but sole heir of it as well. Wufei was probably richer than he was.

"Well . . . um . . . that puts a different light on things."

Wufei realized what Zechs was really talking about. "No, it doesn't. This is your house. Not mine. I don't have a home anymore. I was hoping that we could make this our home. We need to sit down and have a real talk soon. All this dancing about is giving me a headache."

Zechs flinched, he wasn't sure if Wufei was talking about residual effects of his accident or stress or what. He realized that his mind was skittering around like a mouse in a basket, so he just stopped.

"Real or imagined." Wufei gave him a blank look. "Headache."

Wufei rubbed at his temples. "A little of both I think. I'm not a baby making machine. I'm not creating lives then turning them over to the elders. If we decide to have children, we're going to raise them ourselves. But that's a long way in the future. Neither of us is ready just yet."

Zechs nearly fell over. Wufei was talking about children! holy shit

"And how are _we_ to accomplish this feat of magic?"

Wufei looked exasperated. "Oh, grow up. For heavens sake, you're smart. Where the hell do you think all Winners sisters came from? We could do the same thing. Donor egg. Stripped DNA from our sperm, simple. Just not yet, if you please."

Zechs nodded. "I see. You really want to keep me?"

Wufei's head jerked up. "Keep you? I thought we already had that out. I don't have casual sex. Nor do you, as far as I can tell. So . . . I love you. I'm keeping you. You want to have the safe, sane and consensual talk now?"

Zechs shuddered, a cold chill racing across his skin. He was really going to do this. Trust someone again.

"I wrote . . . well . . . I thought. . . oh, god."

Wufei took the belt off his bathrobe and gestured to Zechs. "Fetch what you've written and come here. . . let down your hair."

Zechs blinked once, then went to fetch his papers. He handed his notes to Wufei, who simply placed them on the nearby table. He motioned for Zechs to turn around. Zechs obediently rotated and, when Wufei reached for one wrist, he put both behind him to be bound.

Wufei tied the offered wrists carefully. This was the beginning. He made sure that the tie was firmly knotted, but not tight around the delicate joints.

"Kneel." Zechs sank onto his knees, then bowed his head. "No. Look at me. I want to see your eyes."

Zechs looked up, his eyes shining with love and hope.

"I will never humiliate you, ever. I want you to think of what you forgot while I read this."

Zechs bit at his lip, what had he forgotten, and how bad was it?

Wufei settled to read, smiling slightly. He frowned at the paper then realized, "Zechs, I've forgotten my glasses. They're on the night stand, fetch them please."

Zechs stood then hesitated. Wufei realized the problem immediately. "In your hand."

"Yes, beloved."

Zechs fetched the glasses by walking to the night stand, his braid slapping against his back. He turned around, picked up the glasses and returned to Wufei. He turned around and waited while Wufei took them from his hand, then he knelt back at his feet. Zechs watched Wufei's face as he read the paper.

"Well, that's quite comprehensive. Now we'll see what you really want."

Zechs blinked, he'd put down every thing he and Treize had done. He didn't think he'd forgotten anything.

"I know this is what you did, with Treize. But, is it what you like, or what he wanted?" Zechs frowned. "Don't bother to answer, your face gives you away. First, most of this is stuff that I wouldn't do to a dog. You are very precious to me. I don't mind punishing you, if that's what you need. But not in that fashion, I might spank you, or even use the cane. But most of my punishments are much more subtle, and enjoyable."

Zechs looked at Wufei with a new awareness of him. This commanding figure was nothing like his tender lover. He shuddered suddenly. His life was changing and he was sure it was for the better, finally.

"Now, I believe I told you that you forgot one of the things I asked you to do. What was it?"

Zechs shook his head frantically trying to figure out what it was. "I don't know. Truly, I don't. Wufei. Please."

Wufei smiled so gently that Zechs relaxed. "Your hair . . . I believe I asked you to let it down . . . This is just for us. You are never to be seen in public with your hair down again. Baring accidents, of course. Now, I'll forgive it this time. Things are moving a little fast for you, I think."

Zechs put his head on Wufei's thigh. "I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

Wufei smacked Zechs on the shoulder. "I said I would, didn't I? Turn around and I'll take it down." Wufei waited while Zechs rose to the balls of his feet and swivelled around to kneel again with his back to him. "You have such beautiful hair. It's so soft and . . . so very blond."

Zechs sighed as Wufei unbraided his hair. It was going to be a mess to brush out after they were done doing whatever Wufei had in mind, but he wasn't worried. Wufei would take care of it.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I forgot. I'm so . . . nervous. I . . . feel. . ."

Wufei smiled at Zechs as he stammered, trying to express his feelings.

"Like a sixteen-year-old virgin?"

Zechs snorted. "I'm neither sixteen nor a virgin. But yes. Very much so."

"We're not going to do much right now. We don't have time. I just want you to understand that I take all this very seriously. I love you and I will . . . cater to your needs. But there are lines which I will not cross. You understand that."

Zechs nodded, "Yes. I understand. What are you going to do now?"

Wufei shuffled the papers around and then started reading out loud. After reading a passage he told Zechs whether it was acceptable to him or not. Zechs was surprised to realize that Wufei was neither offended nor disgusted byanything he'd written. He was however, very firm on what he would and wouldn't do. Almost everything he wouldn't do was something that Zechs wasn't truly fond of. He wondered how Wufei could tell he didn't really like something without looking at his face.

Wufei smiled as Zechs shifted from one heel to the other. He'd been reading for a while now and knew that Zechs had to be tired of kneeling. His shoulders were getting too stiff to read.

"I'm getting hoarse and you're getting tired. We'll stop now. I think I have a good idea of what we'll be doing. Lean forward a little."

Zechs dutifully leaned and Wufei untied his wrists. He let them fall forward, then shook them out. His shoulders were a little stiff and the skin around his wrists was reddened.

Wufei stripped out of the robes and hung them on the stand. "Come on. I want a bath and you need a good shoulder massage. They're stiff. I'll brush out your hair and braid it for tonight."

They settled in the tub and Zechs started to wash Wufei's hair. Wufei had to stifle a snicker, Zechs had wrapped his hair into an odd bird's nest, twisting it around his head and sticking long pins into it to hold it out of the water.

"What? I know it looks stupid, but I don't have time to wash and dry it before we have to start getting ready. Do you think the tailor has been in yet?"

Wufei shrugged. "Don't know. Yuy would let you know if the guy didn't show on time. So he must have been here."

"Well, I'm not going to worry about it. Yuy and Maxwell are big boys. They can take care of themselves. And it's not as if we're under fire."

Wufei settled with a snort.

Zechs finished washing Wufei's hair and they washed each other, fooling around and teasing each other.

They spent the rest of the afternoon reading poetry to each other. Sappho turned out to be a favorite.

Heero studied Duo and Duo glared back.

"You look good."

Duo snorted. "But . . ."

"No but. You look good. Fit's nice. Smooth across the shoulders and the holster doesn't show."

"Well, ok . . . if you're sure." Duo gave Heero a doubtful look.

"I'm sure. Stop worrying. I don't now what's wrong with you."

Duo sighed. "I don't want to look like a street rat dressed up like a mink."

Heero shook his head. "How do I look?"

Duo looked Heero over from head to toe. The tailor hovered in the back ground. This was the true test of his skills. Heero was smaller than average, like all the pilots except Trowa. But he was muscular and solid. That caused some trouble getting the suit to fit correctly. It couldn't be too loose or too tight, but it had to hang properly when Heero was relaxed and still allow room for his muscles to expand as they flexed.

"Well, it looks really good. . . and you're holster doesn't show either. . . so I guess we're good to go."

The tailor nearly fainted in relief, this could have ruined his reputation. Sending the ever more popular Gundam pilots to Lady Relena Peacecraft's ball less than exceptionally well dressed would have been a disaster. He'd never had to deal with two slender, youthful individuals who insisted on carrying the sort of arms they did before.

After tipping the tailor and sending him on his way, the two young men removed their suits and hung them in the closet. They spent the rest of the afternoon resting, reading and playing video games.

Binky shuttled back and forth between rooms and men, happily licking hands until someone petted her.

They met in the large foyer, examined each other then went out the door to climb into the car and head for the palace.

Their car added itself to a long line of similar cars and idled up the drive. Duo was astonished to see that the palace was a stark, modern structure made of form poured concrete and steel. It was rather ugly and squatted in the surrounding parks like some gray toad.

"Holy hell. That thing is awful. How can Relena stand it?"

Zechs just eyed the building with mild disfavor and shrugged. "She doesn't like it much. But the original palace was damaged badly in the second invasion. The government decided to tear it down and build a new building to symbolize the downfall of the old and the creation of the new. I, personally, despise the thing. But I don't have to live here. Thank god."

They finally made the portico and the entry. Heero took one good look and cringed. The place was all glass and crystal and steel. It was so open that he grumbled, "Might as well have the party in a foot ball stadium. All that glass. Hn!"

The entire front of the vestibule was window from floor to ceiling and wall to wall, with huge wide doors right in the middle.

Zechs gazed around with disgust. The place was nearly industrial in its sparseness. Everything was angular and hard. It was too; too bright, too hard, too cold.

He just hoped that Relena's quarters were more to her taste than this.

The Preventer who ran the security wand over then stiffened then pushed a button on the Saf-t on his belt. They were surrounded in a moment by armed security guards. All of whom looked extremely nervous.

Zechs shrugged and started to put up his hands but Heero tugged his elbow down again. "No, don't give them the satisfaction. We'll be in, in a moment. Hold onto Duo for me . . . Wufei?"

Wufei just nodded grimly. "Zechs do _not_ let him make a scene. Please."

Duo eyed the head of security and sneered. The man was sweating already. And no one had done a thing yet. He muttered to Wufei. "Our people are much better trained. Look how every one of them has his piece at the end of his extended arm. Way too much vid."

Wufei snorted his agreement. "Frankly, I'll be glad to get back to the office. I want to review some of our training methods."

Heero and Wufei parted ways then. Heero moved left and Wufei went right, Duo took center with Zechs behind him. If things went sideways there would be at least two of them still on their feet.

The sharp voice made everyone in range in a uniform cringe. "I'll have a report on this at once."

The commander of the group hurried to Une and saluted. "They're armed. And quite heavily. I . . . that's the Lightening Count and . . . I don't recognize the others. But . . . ma'am, they've got enough arms between them to start a small war. And they're not registered. At least I don't think they are."

Une gave the man a look of such disgust that he stepped back a step.

"And why not?"

"Um . . . no one checked?"

Une made a sharp 'chk' with her tongue. "You're on report. And the wand handler as well. I'll handle this."

Une approached the group with all guns blazing, figuratively speaking. The first thing she did was dress the wand handler down with a look, then she turned to eye the group of pilots.

"Well, I'm glad you've got more self-control than my men." She nodded her head at Zechs. "Milliardo." Zechs gave her a flat look that convinced her to continue her greetings. "Yuy. Chang. Pleasure to see you again. Maxwell. . ."

Duo was nearly hiding behind Zechs. He didn't want to talk to Une or even be near her. Somehow being sociable with someone who'd tried to have him executed was just beyond him.

"I'd like to talk to you sometime tonight. If you don't mind."

Duo found himself clutching Heero's offered hand in his. "I do mind."

Une gave him a surprised look. "Excuse me?"

Duo got himself in hand when Heero gave him an encouraging look. "Not a chance in hell, babe. Ya wanna take this outside? Or do ya wanna make a scene right here in the foyer. Cause I got somethin' I wanna get offa my chest."

Une stiffened then led Duo and Heero to a room hidden behind a sculpture.

"Very well. Say what you have to say. Then I'll say what I have to say."

Duo took a deep breath. "You stupid bitch. Leave me alone. Not only are you a psycho, you ain't got the sense of a flea. First ya turn me over t' a bunch a great big guys that hate Gundam pilots on principle then ya try ta shoot me for doin' my duty. And chase my sorry ass all over hells' half acre for days. Not to mention lettin' that ass assistant of yours interrogate me. If beatin' the shit outa me with his belt counts. Now ya won't let it rest. What . . ya wanna apologize? So ok, you're sorry, so what? Don't care! Leave me alone! Go away! Fuck off! Take a hike, off a cliff for all I care. Now . . . what!"

Une gave up. She'd hoped that Duo would work for Preventers and draw the others into the fold. Now she knew that it was impossible. Chang had turned her down, saying that he had to take care of Maxwell. Heero wasn't eligible until he'd completed his sentence, Milliardo/Zechs was in the same situation. Winner and Barton were much too busy with WEI.

"Well, that answers all my questions in one . . . er . . . rant. I'm sorry you feel that way. I do understand, however. I just want to say that, with my current medication, I'm not a psycho. And I never knew how you were treated until I saw the replays. Heads did roll over that. Not that it's much comfort. I won't bother you again. Please enjoy the ball. And register those guns."

Heero dipped his hand into his jacket pocket, opposite to his fire arm. He presented Lady Une with his carry permit, smirking and remarking that it was wonderful what throwing a bunch of money at something could accomplish.

"We all have corporate carry permits. Wonderful thing, money. Excuse us. We need to rejoin our party before Zechs has an aneurysm."

Duo turned in the door and rather childishly stuck his tongue out at Une. She wondered for a moment what exactly Winner was up to, then gave it up.

They rejoined their party and watched as the guards scrambled away to hide themselves wherever it was they popped out from.

Wufei immediately went to Duo. "You ok? What the hell did that evil onna want?"

Duo told the story in a short hand so clipped that Zechs barely understood him. After he translated Duo's explanation into English, he shook his head.

"I don't know what she's thinking. After your history . . . I don't even want to work for her. She's too unstable for me. Medication or not . . . we better get in there."

Zechs dipped his hand into his outside jacket pocket and retrieved his invitation. Wufei tucked his hand into his wide bell-shaped sleeve and did the same. Heero and Duo already had their invitations in hand. They'd retrieved them on the way back to the group.

"Well, come on. Let's go." Zechs squared his shoulders and headed for the ballroom proper.

When they got to the door they joined a line of people waiting to get in. The men were all dressed in tuxedos. The ladiesall in evening gowns and jewelry, some even wearing tiaras. Duo was wide eyed, wondering why some of the women wore crowns and others didn't. Quatre hadn't covered this.

When they reached the door there was a soft chime then a voice announced. "Prince Milliardo Hans Gunter Alberto Zechs Merquise Peacecraft. . . and party."

Zechs made a face and started down the stairs, head held high. There were a few whistles, boos, and catcalls, which were quickly shushed. Zechs ignored them like they didn't exist.

Heero glared around the room so hotly that it was a wonder the drapes didn't catch on fire. Duo made note of those he could and vowed that they'd suffer before the night was out. Wufei just took Zechs's hand and held it tightly in his.

A footman approached them almost at once. He asked them to follow him, which they did, weaving their way through the crowds quickly.

Zechs sighed his relief when he saw who they were meeting.

Relena held out her hand to Zechs. "Milliardo. I'm so glad you came. Ignore the . . ."

Zechs bowed over Relena's hand and then kissed it. "Ignore who, my dear. I thought I heard some birds croaking. A bagatelle."

Relena plastered a pleasant, white bread look on her face. "I know who most of them are. They won't get away with it. I promise."

Zechs looked Relena in the eyes. "Don't cause yourself political trouble for my sake. Please."

Relena narrowed her eyes slightly. "I won't. But social intervention is one thing. Political another. I'm cold shouldering every one of them. You're my brother for heavens' sake. They're . . . nobody."

Duo smirked at Relena. He bowed over her hand and kissed it with a flourish. "We need to compare notes. I had a different vantage point."

Relena just smirked slightly. No more thanthe slightest quirk of her lips, but it was there.

Wufei and Heero made their obeisance and were greeted with every evidence of delight. Relena even went so far as to allow Heero a quick peck on her cheek, in fact she insisted.

Heero obliged and complemented her on her perfume. Relena replied just a little too loudly. "Why thank you, Heero. It is so very nice of you to notice." Then she turned to Duo, turning her back on the man who'd been slithering up to her. "Oh, Duo. What do you think of my new perfume. Heero says that it suits me."

Duo leaned over and sniffed her shoulder. "Not bad. A little fruity for my taste, but it does suit you."

Relena let out a little yip and smacked Duo on the shoulder. "You fiend. Stop that."

Duo laughed softly. "I know, shame on me. But you should have seen that man's face. I thought he was going to bust."

Heero poked Duo in the side. "What did you do?"

Relena made a disgusted sound. "He pretended to lick my shoulder. I thought Baron Langerfeld was going to explode. Not that I mind."

Relena turned to Wufei, "I'm so glad you came. Um . . . you might want to be a little careful. Some of the elders are here. I'm not really happy about it. They gate crashed, but my people didn't know any better. They said they were here under your invitation."

Wufei gave her a sour look. "They presume too much. I'll deal with them if it's necessary. Next time either turn them away or call me and I'll handle them. I would never presume to invite someone else to a party. It's tacky."

Relena gave him a sympathetic look. She was well aware of his troubles and would help him anyway she could.

Zechs led Wufei away to stand in a small alcove. They both watched the crowds for a few moments.

Zechs snarled. "Damn. Here comes Connaway."

"Connaway?"

"The giraffe guy."

Wufei sniffed, it resembled one of Relena's disdainful little sniffs, only the look that accompanied it couldn't have been accomplished by someone with blue eyes. Wufei's eyes turned from warm onyx to obsidian chill.

"Hey it's the albino. How's tricks?"

Wufei stepped between Connaway and Zechs before the man could slap him on the shoulder. Connaway withdrew his hand with a stung expression.

Wufei didn't let him get too far away. He stepped into the man's personal space and chested him.

Connaway stepped back again, which put him in sight of most of the near by guests. He put out a hand in a natural reaction and pushed Wufei away.

"Hey, girlie. What's your problem?"

Wufei snarled. "I'm not a girl. I'm Chang Wufei. I claim insult. You laidhands on me."

The man backed up with a startled expression on his face and made the fatal mistake. "Hey Giraffe, what the hell is wrong with your girlfriend." Heads turned. "Albino, you better get her off or I'll do something I shouldn't."

Wufei caught the man by the thumb and twisted his hand backwards, turning his thumb against his wrist and his wrist away from his body. He fell to his knees with a shrill yelp. Wufei eyed him in disgust.

"Don't touch me. Go away."

Zechs hauled the man to his feet, dusted his knees off and shoved him into the crowd. "Do go away, there's a good chap. Wufei is slightly sensitive about insults. Dragon Clan, ya know."

Connaway scrambled for something to save the situation, but after looking around for help realized that it was irretrievable. He'd just committed social suicide.

He'd touched someone who was well known by reputation to be untouchable and he'd insulted the Prince of the House of Sanq. Never mind that he was an old school friend. He was in so deep that he was never getting out.

As he walked away, he watched as a man he'd been drinking with the night before turned his back.

Wufei saw it too and smiled, Zechs realized that it was really nasty. He smirked.

"Thank you."

Wufei inclined his head. "You're welcome."

They stood on the edge of the room and watched as people coalesced, separated, orbited and wandered by, in random glittering patterns. Wufei realized that they stood shoulder to shoulder with their backs to the wall. They were just far enough away from the wall that they invited conversation.

Many of the people who stopped to visit with Zechs asked for introductions to Wufei. When they were introduced, the reactions were almost equally divided between people who knew him as the Eldest of the Chang Clan, and those who knew he was Pilot 05. Either way, he was somewhat insulted that their first remark was either 'you're so young' or 'you're so small' it grated on his nerves.

He never realized that he looked incredibly small with Zechs standing so near.

Zechs was watching the dancing crowd and enjoying a glass of wine, he despised champagne, but enjoyed a nice glass of white wine. When Wufei said softy but quite clearly, 'Mother fuck' he turned to see what the matter was.

Wufei was staring at four men bearing down on him from the very center of the room. One of the men handed Wufei a paper.

Wufei opened it and read quickly. Right here in the middle of Lady Relena's spring ball four members of the council of elders were trying to take Wufei into custody as a runaway. Wufei just handed the paper to Zechs.

Zechs eyed the thing like it was slimy.

Wufei snorted. "You can't do this."

An elderly man reached out to pat Wufei, who slipped out from under the touch. "Now, now my boy. We have your best interests at heart. You're the ward of the Eldest of the Elders. All we're going to do is take you to him."

Wufei ground his teeth. "I'm the Eldest. Since I am, I'm already in my own custody. Idiot."

The other three were eyeing Wufei with narrowed eyes and sullen expressions.

"You're too stubborn for your own good. You know you're too young to know what's best for you. The council will decide what you should do and who you should marry. You have responsibilities. "

Wufei backed up against Zechs who motioned to someone out of Wufei's line of sight.

"I know exactly what responsibilities you're speaking of. I tend to them quite well thank you."

"You don't understand."

Wufei turned to the three middle-aged men. "Yes, I understand quite well. What do you really want?"

Zechs started to say something but Wufei held up a hand saying softly. "Let's hear them out. I want to know exactly what I'm dealing with"

Zechs dipped his head. "Very well. We'll listen"

Wufei shot him a grateful look.

The man in the middle stepped closer to Wufei. "If you sign these, we'll arrange for you to be the ward of someone else. The eldest isn't interested in you, only in these stocks and bonds. We need them, for reasons you wouldn't understand."

Wufei raised one eyebrow and took the papers. He flicked through the pages and nearly screamed in pure frustration. Not for himself but for the council of elders. They wanted all the most worthless stocks the clan owned. They'd looked purely at the number of shares owned.

"And the other stocks?"

"We don't want them. You're free to keep them. They should supply you with a reasonable income."

"And if I sign, you'll go away and leave me alone forever?"

The man started to say yes, but one of the others shook his arm. "The DNA, don't forget the DNA."

Wufei stiffened. They couldn't have that, not for any amount of money, pleading, or threats. His children would never fall into the hands of the council of the Chang clan. That he would never allow.

"NO! Absolutely not. That is black mail of the worst sort." Zechs loomed over the smaller, older men like an avenging angel. Wufei thought absently that he looked wonderful.

"Please, love. I can handle this bunch of ghouls." Wufei turned his gaze back to the men. "Do you have a print pad with you?"

One of the men produced the four-inch square, computerized finger print scanner. He held it out to Wufei.

"Put in on search mode. Full scan for personal ID."

The man did as Wufei requested and held it out again. Wufei placed his right index finger on the pad and waited for it to scan. When it was done scanning Wufei ordered the men to read the identification, with a picture, that appeared. He got a trio of stunned looks and one filthy one.

"Now, I do believe that you know who you're dealing with."

Zechs loomed a little more pointedly.

Wufei examined the list of stocks and bonds again. "I'll sign all these over to you gladly." Wufei produced a sheaf of papers from somewhere in his robes. "You sign here . . . here . . . and here. I assume that you are truly representatives of the Clan Council. I would be so disappointed if you were not." Wufei gave them a fierce look. "And you wouldn't like me when I'm disappointed. I don't handle it well."

Zechs twitched. "'Love, you don't have to sign anything over to them if you don't want to."

Wufei shot him a warning look. "I'm willing to acquiesce to some of their demands in order to rid myself of their annoyance. Allow me to know what I'm doing, please."

Zechs frowned but quieted himself. He glared at the four men with such icy fury that they began shifting uncomfortably.

Wufei signed papers where he was told. He also made sure that all four men signed his papers where they were supposed to. Then he bowed, barely nodding his head.

"Thank you. Please go away now. I have no further use for you."

The DNA man started to say something but was jabbed in the side by another of the men who hissed, "Not now. That is Peacecraft. We'll have to make other arrangements. The Chang primary blood line ends with Chang Wufei. Enough!"

They turned away, but Wufei was afraid that he hadn't heard the last of the chubby man he already thought of as "the DNA Freak."

Zechs sighed and Wufei turned to him. "I know you only want to help, but you won't do me any good by undermining my position. I think you need to be punished."

Zechs blinked. "I'm sorry. But I need to see what you signed. You can claim duress and I'll back you up."

Wufei handed Zechs the papers and shrugged. "See for yourself. I think the stocks and bonds I traded for my freedom from the demands of the clan were well spent."

Zechs eyed the papers, what Wufei had said finally penetrating his brain. He decided that any amount of punishment was worth making sure that Wufei hadn't been cheated.

Wufei plucked a glass of wine from a tray, then leaned against the wall. Zechs opened the papers and scanned the list of stocks and bonds. What he saw left him vacillating between amusement and outrage.

The Clan Counsel had made the mistake of looking at the number of stocks and the purchase price, instead of the dividends they paid. They had taken the majority of the stocks, and left Wufei with bonds and a few stocks. But the bonds were high interest bearing bonds and the stocks were utilities and WEI. The stocks were fairly expensive, but there weren't that many shares of any one stock. Zechs realized that they were all preferred and/or voting shares, which made them much more valuable.

Then Zechs turned the page and nearly choked. Wufei had let the council have all the high profile companies the clan owned. He'd kept the smaller and much more lucrative companies for himself. Again the council had looked at the short term bottom line, the quarterly reports, instead of the long term projections. The council had shortsightedly given Wufei all the best of the investments and taken the high profile, low interest, troublesome ones. The same with the companies

Zechs realized that while Wufei had effectively given away more than half his ownings, he was still extremely rich.

Zechs handed Wufei back his paperwork and just looked at him, waiting for his explanation.

Wufei decidedwhat he wanted and motioned Zechs to step out into the terrace.

"I gave them everything that I don't like or find less than lucrative. I don't like supervising some of the companies, so I let them have those too. I kept all the best stocks, all the bonds and the companies that don't need close supervision. I'll never spend even the interest from the bonds, the dividends from the stocks Quatre is investing for me. And the companies nearly manage themselves. Satisfied?"

Zechs nodded. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to be cheated. I hope I didn't make too much trouble for you."

"Not enough to worry about, I think. But you interfered after I told you not to. That deserves a punishment, don't you think?"

Zechs could do nothing but gulp and nod.

Wufei produced a cord from somewhere in his robes and motioned for Zechs to step into the heavy shadows at one side of the terrace. Zechs gave him a puzzled look but went where Wufei pointed.

Wufei quickly opened his fly and with quick fingers wrapped the cord around Zechs. Zechs moaned as he felt the cord constrict him, Wufei had wrapped it around the base of his sex then up the shaft. The knot he'd tied just behind the glans was going to be torture.

"Please." Zechs didn't know if he was pleading for mercy or more.

Wufei wrapped the cord down to Zechs's scrotum, crossed it between his testes, separating them, the next knot was rather large and pressed into his perineum. Then Wufei carefully rearranged Zechs clothing.

"Come. We should go back before Maxwell suspects something."

Zechs checked his clothing with trembling hands and followed Wufei.


	30. Having a Ball: Part II

The Price 30

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Duo grinned at Relena. "I think Wuffers can handle himself. But if he can't, Tall, Blond and Icy can."

Relena gave Duo a sharp look. "Zechs would never dream. . ."

Heero sighed. "Relena, they're in love, he'd dare quite a bit more than facing off against the elders."

Relena thought for a moment. "I do believe you're right. I just hope they can work something out. Zechs has . . . interesting tastes."

Duo nearly spit out the sip of something green he'd taken. "Excuse me! I mean. . . you're not supposed to know about things like that."

Relena snorted. "I had to learn a great many things that a girl my age shouldn't. When it has to do with my brother, I'll know about it. I don't want _things_ getting out of hand."

Heero could see by Duo's face that he was censoring himself into a panic.

"Very wise. But don't worry. Duo and I have our eyes on both of them. I don't think there's going to be trouble of any kind."

Duo wisely kept his mouth shut until they got away from Relena.

"Heero, how the hell . . . who . . . I mean . . . I'm gonna kill someone. Really."

Heero sighed. "I'm sure she was very discreet. Catalonia would do the research then tell her whatever she needed to know. I don't think she knows the dirty details. Just the generalities . . . I hope. Good lord!"

Duo rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah."

After recovering from that shock they decided to circulate and be 'socially available'

Heero realized that the green drink that Duo was drinking was called a Shirley Temple. Some sort of reference to nonalcoholic beverages and a child movie star. He decided to ask Duo about it later.

"Um. . . do they have any other flavor? I don't like lime."

Duo smiled. "It's not lime, it's kiwi. But they have cherry and orange. Made with real juice."

Heero signaled one of the servers who came over with a tray of drinks. "Drink, sir?"

Heero nodded. "Cherry Shirley Temple, please."

The man handed Heero a glass off the tray. "There you are. . . um . . . " Heero just looked at the man. "Thanks for not making me refuse to serve you."

Heero shrugged. "I don't like alcohol and crowds. I'm too high strung to . . . loosen my inhibitions."

The server shuddered slightly, Duo snickered. "I think Wufei got a glass of wine."

Heero looked at him for a second. "You want some?"

Duo shook his head. "Not really. I just think it's stupid. We're old enough to get our asses shot off but not old enough to get drunk off our asses."

Heero laughed. "Well that's one way of looking at it."

They stood and watched the dancing for a while and finally Heero asked Duo to dance with him.

Duo grinned. "Oh, yeah. The Perfect Soldier dancing. Give me a break."

Heero just grinned at Duo. "I was taught. J made sure I knew everything I needed to, to go under cover at those boarding schools he was so fond of hiding me in. So I learned to dance, ride a horse, fence and . . . um . . . other things."

Duo snickered. "Like?"

"None of your business, Mr. Nosy Pants."

Duo resolved himself to find out sometime, but not tonight. He didn't want to spoil the mood by nagging at Heero.

"I've just marked myself, haven't I?"

Duo lay his head on Heero's shoulder and hummed in his ear. Heero smiled and they waltzed. No one much paid any attention. Homophobia had been conquered decades ago, except on a few colonies. Mostly in the L4 cluster.

Heero breathed in the special scent that was Duo Maxwell. He smelled like coconut and Sandalwood and thyme. And Duo.

Duo grumbled. "Oh, hell. What now."

The music had stopped and there was a small scuffle near one side of the ball room. Heero held Duo back. "Let 'Fei handle it himself. We're here if he needs us, but Zechs is positively hovering."

Duo nodded and turned instead to the musicians and signaled that they should resume playing. They did and most of the attention turned back to the music and dancing again.

Heero led Duo through several more dances, then they headed for the refreshments. All that dancing had made them both thirsty.

Duo took the glass Heero offered and they wandered around the edge of the room people watching. Duo noticed that Heero kept between him and the room, he had to smile at that.

"'Ro, you know I'm just as deadly as you are, don't you?"

"Yeah, but . . . I just . . . " Heero sighed. "I can't help it. So just go with the flow, ok."

Duo squeezed Heero's hand. "Sure, love. I just didn't want you thinking you got some other Duo Maxwell by the hand. Ya know?"

Heero grinned. "Idiot."

Duo lifted his drink in a cocky salute and sipped at it.

They made a complete circuit of the room and wound up back near Relena.

Relena was watching the dancers with a sour expression on her face. Duo couldn't believe that she wasn't enjoying her own party.

"Hey, Princess. Why the long face?"

Relena gave one of her disdainful little sniffs. "I'm tired of dancing with stinky old men who only want to dance with me to try to further their political ambitions. If I hear one more word about the WEI colony, I think I'll scream."

Duo blinked. "The . . . excuse me?"

"Quatre has . . . er . . . well. He's building a new colony, you knew that. Right?"

Duo and Heero both nodded. That was why their two comrades weren't at this ball. They were at the colony.

"Well, a few older men seem to think that he needs some sort of permits or permission or something. He doesn't. All he needs is the money to build the thing. But they're all agitating for some sort of sanctions. I'm sick of it all. Couldn't I just dance one dance where my partner wants just me?"

Duo looked at Heero. Heero shrugged. Relena said a very unladylike word.

"If that nasty man tries to kiss my hand again, I'll puke. I swear, it's like being licked by a St. Bernard. And his hands are . . . clammy doesn't quite describe it."

Duo immediately pounced on the man. "Hey, buddy how ya doin'"

The pudgy politician automatically offered Duo his hand. "Oh, man. Sticky. Whatcha been eatin'"

"I'm sorry?"

Duo quickly steered the man toward the men's rooms. "Your hands are all sticky. Make's a real bad impression. You ought to go wash them. Go on."

The man headed for the men'sroom wondering what had just happened. He'd had Relena in his sights, but somehow he was out of range again.

Duo grimaced in distaste. "Oh, man. Yuck! His hands are just plain wet."

Heero handed Duo his handkerchief without comment. Duo took it and wiped his hand off. Relena breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Well, thank you Duo. That was quick thinking."

Heero bowed to Relena then took her hand and led her onto the dance floor, where the orchestra was just striking up a quickstep.

Heero led Relena through the graceful, bouncy steps with a serene expression on his face. Relena lit up like a space port on a dark night. When the music stopped Heero led Relena off the floor and to the bar.

"Would you like something?"

Relena nodded, fanning herself with a small folding fan that was dangling from her wrist. "Something sour and not pink. I'm so tired of those syrupy things people keep pressing on me."

Duo joined them. "I'll get you something really good. It's called a Virgin Sour."

Relena watched Duo head for the bar. "What's that . . . oh, he didn't take your order."

Heero offered Relena his arm to they wouldn't get separated in the crowd and to discourage interruption. "It's a Whisky Sour without the whisky, it's good. That's what Duo's getting me. He knows I like them." Heero looked around, another politician was headed their way. He veered off when Heero glared at him.

Relena snickered. "Heero?"

"Hn?"

"Has anyone ever measured the Kelvin level of that glare?"

Heero shrugged. "Somewhere about minus two, Duo says."

Relena started to say something but was interrupted by Duo, who walked up, handed around drinks, and remarked, "I say a lot of things. Which thing is this?"

Relena explained what they were talking about and then asked, "I'm tired and I can't think. What is zero Kelvin in Celsius?"

"273.16C . . . absolute zero."

Relena snickered. "I remember now. And Heero's glare is minus two? Oh, dear."

They all laughed and Heero managed a slightly shamefaced look.

Relena looked around, then sighed. "I wish I could just sneak away. I'm supposed to dance with every dignitary here. Which I have done. See?" she lifted her skirts slightly and showed them the toe of her shoe. It was badly soiled and scuffed. "I swear every one of them stepped on my toes, or my hem. They either clutch me like they're afraid I'll fly away, or they act like I'm made of spun glass. I'm so tired of it all. All I want to do is dance. Like a real girl. Just watch. They clear a space around me and any partner like they're . . . I'm sorry, I'm ranting. I'm just tired." Relena reached out and the nearby server pressed a glass off his tray into her hand.

Duo nodded sagely. "I bet. Come on." He took Relena by the hand and tugged. Heero gave him a warning look but followed.

Duo led Relena up a hidden flight of stairs and into a room on the next floor.

"It's the small ball room. It's still big enough to house a shuttle but it's smaller than that monstrosity below." Duo disappeared into the gloom followed shortly by snapping sounds and light.

Heero looked around with appreciation. The walls were decorated with swags of brocade material to hide the fact that there were no windows. The chandeliers were simple slabs of crystal which dangled from a frame work in an ever decreasing spiral. The light glowed golden.

Relena smiled happily, they could still hear the music but it wasn't as loud so they could actually talk without screaming in each other's ears.

"Oh, my. This is nice. Duo this is wonderful. Thank you." She put her glass down on a small table nearby.

Duo grinned. "I could tell you weren't really happy. Why the hell do you have such big parties if you don't enjoy them?"

"Social and political obligations. It's a royal pain in the ass. I'm sick of it. And don't give me that look. I'm not some mealy mouthed, missish, girl anymore. I grew up."

Heero smacked Duo on the back of the head, loosening his braid.

"Hey! Be careful." Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero and both young men were delighted when Relena laughed at their antics.

Duo had forgone his usual tight braid and just braided it loosely for about a foot, then tied a large black velvet bow below the braid, just below his shoulder blades.

The orchestra struck up a Viennese waltz and Relena held out her arms to Duo. "Dance with me. I know you won't walk all over my feet."

Heero exclaimed. "Hey! I didn't."

Relena waltzed away with Duo calling over his shoulder. "No, you didn't, but you're one of the few . . . "

The rest of the remark was lost as Duo twirled her around the floor. They waltzed, then there was a polka. Heero snickered slightly, Duo was in trouble but he didn't know about it, yet.

After the polka there was a small pause. Heero pocketed his cell phone and waited. The musicians started another quickstep. Relena happily bounced across the floor, guided by Duo who as nothing if not enthusiastic.

Suddenly the bow on Duo's braid flew across the floor and his hair fell down with a silken sigh. Relena yelped, as they were in the middle of a twirl and Duo's hair wrapped around both of them covering her face with a sweet-smelling veil. Duo just started laughing. Heero joined him and then Relena, they all laughed heartily as Duo fumbled trying to gather his long hair into some sort of order.

Heero snickered. "Just leave it. You'll never get it fixed without help."

Relena mock wailed. "I wanna dance. Heeeerrrroooo, dance with me. Please?"

Heero winced slightly but offered Relena his arms. She danced away with him as Duo grumbled about his hair and wondered where he was going to get a new tie.

The music ended just as Relena and Heero came abreast of Duo again. Relena reached out and grabbed Duo by the hand.

"Dance with Heero. I want to watch you. You are such a cute couple." She picked up the glass she'd brought with her and finished off her drink.

So Heero grabbed Duo's other hand and pulled him into his arms. They danced away to the modern waltz. Duo's hair swirled around them like a living cinnamon-colored cloak. It wrapped around them then swung out in a curtain of silk.

Relena smiled, they _were_ cute. There was a loud bang and suddenly, cute was deadly. Duo dropped and rolled away from Heero, drawing his gun. Heero was suddenly between Relena and the doors. Relena flattened herself on the floor, completing the ruin of her shoes and tearing her dress.

A heavy set man slammed the door against the wall again, this time keeping it open with one hand as he peered into the room.

"Lady Relena? Are you in here? Oh." He suddenly realized that his actions might not have been the wisest.

Relena let Heero help her up with one hand as he holstered his gun with the other. Duo just gave the man a nasty snarl, holstered his gun and swung the now tangled mass of his hair behind him.

Relena sighed and straightened her torn and slightly dirtied dress. She gave up on her slippers and stockings. She'd torn the knee out of one somehow.

The man bustled over to Relena and grabbed her wrist. "You shouldn't be in here socializing with these . . . boys. There are very important people waiting to speak with you."

Relena gave Heero such a look, so full of despair and sadness that he could only come to the rescue, with Duo riding shotgun.

Duo caught Relena by the elbow and Heero gripped the man by the wrist.

Relena pulled away from 'Tubby', Heero squeezed his wrist and Duo got between Relena and any further groping.

Relena broke. She slowly cracked from top to bottom, side to side, and one single tear trickled down her white cheek.

"Heero! Make him go away. Please. Make them all go away." Relena sniffled, trying so hard not to cry. "I was having such good fun. Now it's all spoiled. I don't want to dance with some clammy handed old man. I want to dance with boys. I want to eat . . . eat . . . pizza. And . . . and . . . pop corn and hot dogs and crisps and and . . . damn."

Duo started to lead Relena farther away from Heero and his captive. She dug in her heels and shattered. Heero ducked her shoe.

"Take the damn things. They pinch my toes and they're ugly. I want fuck me sandals with rhine stones on them. And take this too." Relena pulled the delicate tiara off her head and hurled it after the shoe. Then followed it with the other shoe. "It's stupid. I . . . get out. Get Out! GET OUT!"

Heero ducked the flying objects, released the man, and went to try to help Duo calm Relena.

The door opened again only it opened slowly. Wufei stuck his head in with Zechs above and behind him Zechs didn't wait a second he opened the door the rest of the way and hurried in followed closely by Wufei

Zechs took in the scene with a quick flick of his eyes. He reached out and grabbed the officious little man and shoved him into Wufei's arms, Wufei shoved him again, right out the door.

There was some sputtering involved but everyone ignored it. Wufei stuck his head out the door and ordered, "No one comes in. No one." Then slammed the door.

Zechs joined Heero and Duo in trying to calm Relena. "What the hell is going on? Relena calm down. How can I help you if I don't know what's wrong?"

Heero quickly explained what had happened while Relena wet the shoulder of Duo's jacket with hot, bitter tears.

Zechs took things in hand swiftly. With Wufei in tow he found the Master of Ceremonies and told him that Relena was exhausted and had retired for the night. The Master made the announcement and the crowd immediately started to leave. Zechs 'did the pretty' in Relena's stead. Shaking hands and taking complements with aplomb suited to his station, Wufei seconded him with serenity and grace.

It took only twenty minutes or so to nearly clear the room. The remaining guests would party well into dawn.

While Zechs and Wufei were doing that, Heero and Duo took Relena in hand.

"Relena, we want to take you to your quarters. Where are they?"

Relena snarled. "I hate them. They're all pink. Pinkpinkpink. I outgrew pink months and months ago . . . I don' wanna go. I wanna dance. An' . . . an' . . . Duo. I'm . . . sick. . . oh my."

Relena quivered then bent over and was sick. Not a ladylike wet hiccup. But really sick. Duo muttered, "God, can you say projectile? Not a drop on her. But, yuck."

Heero snarled, "Shut the fuck up. We got to get her out of here."

Duo shrugged. "Tell people I barfed, I don't care. . . .go sneak a peek out the door." Duo just scooped Relena up in his arms and started for the door.

Relena rolled her head back and forth on his shoulder. "Not that way. Go other way. "

Duo spun on his heel and headed for the back of the room, half a foot ball field away.

Heero hurried ahead and found the door behind the curtains there. He opened it and looked out into a wide hall. No one was there, so he motioned for Duo to give Relena to him. Duo handed her off to Heero and went ahead of the pair, checking to be sure that no one would see them. Relena sniffled and hiccupped into Heero's shoulder mumbling something about 'tired' and 'cowardly.'

Heero shushed her and carried her gently.

They reached her rooms and Duo cringed. Even Relena couldn't stand that much pink. The carpet was pink, the walls were blush, the over stuffed furniture was dusky rose and the desk was Louis something or other, white and painted with roses and vines. The entire suite was the same, everything was some shade of pink.

Heero took Relena into the bath room. "Get her a robe or something."

Duo went to find a robe and only came up with a slinky, silken bit of lace. "Heero, there's not a thing in here worth the name. Dammit. Someone's banging on the door."

Duo let Zechs and Wufei in without comment, then got on the phone, rebraiding his hair while he talked. "Catalonia? Yeah, Maxwell. Look . . . no I don't care. You do what I tell you to do or you'll get a visit from Shinigami in the middle of the night. . . no, I'm not threatening you. I don't threaten, I promise. We need some things and don't argue. First, a real bathrobe, not one of those slick cold pieces of shit, flannel or terry. Soup, rich beef broth or veal. Tea, spearmint or peppermint. And jammies. Not . . . yeah . . . jersey or flannel. And if anything is pink I'll make you eat it. Bye"

Duo tossed the phone in the general direction of the cradle and walked into the bathroom. He shamelessly rummaged a drawer for a new hair tie. He snapped it around the end of his sloppy braid then noticed what Heero was doing.

"'Ro, you can't just strip her down and stuff her into a shower like that. She's a lady. Dammit!"

But Relena was far beyond resisting or complaining. She was sobbing her heart out and trying to apologize and explain. Heero finally told her to shut up.

Zechs returned from where he'd been turning down the bed and snapped. "That's my sister you're molesting Yuy."

Relena hiccupped, then giggled rather wetly. "Couldn't get him to strip me if I begged him to. Gay. Um . . . queer. . . what ever. Not that I mind exactly but . . . we could have had such beautiful children. I'm not gonna have any now. Not with the guys I've been offered. Ugh. Not gonna do my duty by my country. Sucks. 'M drunk. . . why 'm I drunk. I don't drink. Wh' gonna be sick again.. . . Heero."

And Relena was indeed sick again, several times in fact.

Duo sniffed at it with a disgusted expression. "She's not drunk. Doesn't smell of alcohol. Zechs. . I ordered what you'll really need to take care of her. You and 'Fei be all right while Heero and I find out what happened?"

Zechs nodded distractedly while he coped with Relena, clad only in some skimpy, lacy underwear and her stockings. "Yes, once we find out what she was slipped we'll be better able to care for her. Oh, and when you find out who did this, I get them."

Duo cornered the wait staff supervisor and asked if anyone had taken off without warning. The supervisor said no, but he also said that someone had been messing with some of the drinks earlier. Several people had gone home early, feeling ill. Heero questioned the security teams, who didn't like it much. How dare this kid suggest that they weren't doing their job properly?

Heero stared Lady Une down without compunction. "She's sick. It's not alcohol. She wouldn't get drunk, you know that better than I do. So. . . . examine all the tapes and find out who did it. She could have been poisoned instead of ruffied." Heero turned away then looked over his shoulder. The temperature dropped about ten degrees. "Stay away from Duo. If you upset him again, I'll have a little talk with you after hours."

Lady Une raised one eyebrow. "Are you threatening me?"

"No." Heero walked away without looking back. Heero looked for Duo and finally ran him down in the Preventers van.

After glaring at the resident lab tech, he demanded, "What the hell are you doing? You scared me. I couldn't find you anywhere."

Duo looked up from the test tube he was holding. "Analyzing this. Zechs sent it to me. Heero this van is amazing. I want one. It has a complete lab, capable of analyzing almost anything not radioactive. Really neat."

Heero glanced around. "So, what have you found out?"

"She got a good dose of the latest date rape drug. How, I'm not sure. I think it was in that last drink she had. I sent a guy up to see if the glass is still there. Probably not. They're too fanatical about picking up all the glasses as soon as they're set down. But I suppose they need them. Well. . ."

Heero felt like he'd been kicked, why would anyone slip Relena a date rape drug?

"Heero . . . Heero?" Duo waved his hand in front of Heero's face. Heero blinked and turned to him. "Run interference between me and the bitch queen. Ok?"

Heero just nodded, ignoring the tech's snicker. "Already taken care of." He settled back to go over everything with Duo.

Heero's cell rang and then Duo's, they both answered their phones. Heero talked to Lady Une and Duo to Zechs.

Duo snapped his phone shut first and started cleaning up his mess. Heero pocketed his phone.

"Leave it. We need to meet with Zechs and Wufei. Come on."

Duo snorted. "It won't take me but a sec. I don't want to leave a mess for him." Duo nodded to the tech. "I don't do that."

Heero snarled slightly but realized that Duo was right. Duo quickly put the chemicals he'd used in their places and started to put the glass into a small dishwasher.

The tech took over, efficiently pointing Duo towards the door. "Hey, I got that. Lady Une is about to pop her cork. You better get going or she'll cut you a new one."

Duo just thanked the man, handed the last of his cleaning chore over and left the van.

They dodged Une easily enough and found Wufei waiting for them just inside the door. He led them to a large study in the back of the ground floor. It was one of the rooms that dignitaries were led to when they had to wait for Relena.

Zechs was standing by a large table set against one wall. He looked tired, furious and strained.

"Gentlemen, I'm not in the best of moods. This evening started out far different than it has ended up. What do you have to tell me?"

Duo reported first, then Heero. Wufei left to question one of the hosts assistants, she would know who had left early. And most likely why.

Zechs shifted slightly. Duo eyed him for a second, then smirked slightly. Heero looked from Duo to Zechs then back. Duo shrugged and started fiddling with the end of his braid.

Zechs looked at Heero who just looked back, finally Zechs snapped in exasperation, "If you've got something to say, say it."

Heero thought for a moment. "You indulging in power exchange games with Wufei, or what?"

Zechs turned so red Duo thought he might faint from lack of blood to his brain.

"That's not . . . well . . . dammit. Is it that obvious?"

"No. I'm just well aware of your needs and Wufei's abilities. Are you operational?"

Zechs realized that he was getting an up close and personal of the Perfect Soldier.

"Yes. Just uncomfortable."

"Don't worry. Chang won't leave you hanging. We'll get you both out of here within the hour."

Zechs was indignant. "I'm not shirking my duties to my sister, just because I'm horny. I'll be fine"

Duo snorted, Zechs was floundering in guilt and embarrassment.

Heero shook his head. "I have absolutely no desire to deal with a frustrated Chang Wufei…" Duo groaned dramatically. " . . . Nor you in a snit. You can't do much anyway. Conflict of interests. And we're not getting paid for this one so we have to be careful."

Duo beamed at Heero, he'd remembered everything that Duo had ever written him in his emails about company policy.

Duo took over then. "Zechs, I want you and Wufei out of this. You're too close and we really don't need conflict of interest complaints on top of the uproar that we're going to get from taking over from Preventers and Heero being involved. Ok?" Zechs looked doubtful. "Go. Have some fun. Leave this to Heero and me. We'll find out what went on and get our hands on the perp. You know you can't do anything to him, no matter what you want to do. Right?"

Zechs looked unhappy but nodded. "I know you're right. But I don't have to like it."

"No, you don't, but you know we're going to get the pisser. And I meant that literally. If Heero can't do it, I can. Scat."

So Zechs agreed to leave just as soon as Wufei came back.

Wufei entered a few moments later with a list of people who'd left early, several had claimed to be ill. Duo took the list glanced at it and sighed, they were all young ladies and their escorts or a family member.

"Ok, I'm turning this list over to Preventers. They can run down each person, get a sample. . . stomach contents or blood. Then they can do the analysis. I bet each one of these girls got doped with the same stuff as Relena. So . . ."

Heero grunted. "We need to find out if it's a plot aimed at Relena personally, young blond girls in general . . . or just a nasty prank that got out of hand."

Wufei started to say something, cleared his throat and tried again. He said exactly what Heero had said, finishing. "I'll take Zechs up to check on Relena again, then I'm taking him home. He's got to be . . . uncomfortable in the extreme. He's got very good self-control, but by now he's on the edge. We'll see you in the morning. . . late. Unless something comes up. Knock and wait. Good night."

Wufei gathered Zechs up with a look and headed back into the residential wing of the palace. Zechs smiled at Duo and Heero and followed.

They went back into the building and down the corridor into Relena's quarters. Zechs snorted softly. "I think I'm taking little sister shopping soon. This is atrocious."

Wufei nodded. "That could be fun. Check on her quickly while I call the car."

Zechs stuck his head in the bedroom door, after getting Relena out of the shower Zechs had turned her over to her waiting maid. An elderly Austrian woman who'd referred to Relena as Little Lady and taken her in hand.

She'd approved of the flannel pj's and robe. Remarking that Relena hated to hurt anyone's feelings so she wound up with things she hated to wear and nothing she liked.

Now Zechs caught the woman's attention and motioned that he wanted to talk to her.

She rose from the chair she was nodding off in and went into the sitting room with Zechs.

"How is she?"

"The doctor saw her while you were gone. She's going to be fine. Master Duo sent up information on the drug and the doctor said that all we had to do was wait until it wore off. She'll be fine in the morning." The woman shifted from foot to foot. "Please Herr Peacecraft. Talk to her. She's wearing herself out. She needs to be a little selfish from time to time."

Zechs nodded. "And that wardrobe needs a great deal of help. I want you to go through it while she's asleep and get rid of every thing she really hates."

The woman nodded, then smiled. "That will be more than half of it. But Ja, I'll get right on it. And I don't have to worry about her fussing at me. I'm just following orders." She gave Zechs a twinkling eyed look and opened the closet to get started.

Wufei nodded to Zechs and quietly left the room. He was waiting in the hall when Zechs got done with his last look at Relena.

"Are you ready?"

Zechs nodded "yes, the woman is very good. She obviously loves Relena. I just wish that I could help more."

Wufei just patted Zechs on the arm. "We can't and you know it. Come on the car is waiting . . . stop worrying. It's Duo and Heero."

Zechs drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know we can't, but . . . it's my sister. Who did this, and why? And how. And . . . a thousand other questions. And I'll worry if I want to. Heero and Duo are the best there is, but . . . dammit."

Wufei got Zechs into the car and settled. He climbed in after, directed the driver to take them home and settled down to wait out the drive. He hoped that it would allow Zechs time to calm down and get his mind on other things.

Duo bit at his lip. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Heero flipped through the pages of the report. "I'm thinking that someone tried to drug Relena and take her away. The other girls were just a smoke screen. We need more information. Dammit!" Heero tossed the report onto the table. "We can't do much more than we have. The server swears he didn't know anything. I think . . . I'm not sure what I think."

Duo thought hard swinging back and forth in the swivel chair. The click of his heels as he rocked his feet loud in the silence.

"I think we're at a dead end. We don't have the resources we need to do much more. WEI could mount a search, but we're not hired to do the job. We really have to tread carefully on this one. We can't afford to step on toes. Although I'd really love to show Une up. So . . . we give Une all the information we've got and let her do her job."

Heero agreed with Duo snarling about it a little. He wanted to find that fuck himself, but now was definitely not the time to poke a stick in the Preventers ant hill and stir.

They handed everything they had over to Une, or Heero did. Duo wouldn't go near enough to her to shout.

Then they found someone with enough stripes to help them and asked for a ride home. It was well after midnight and there wasn't a cab to be had.

They headed for home and bed.

Chesting someone, for those of you who don't know, is where you stand in someone's way and they either have to go around or bump into you.


	31. After the Ball

The Price 31

After the Ball.

Wufei watched Zechs out of the corner of his eye as he sat back into the seat. He looked a little tired, slightly strained. Wufei knew that Zechs only looked like that when the strain was almost unbearable and he was exhausted.

"Would you like to put our evening off til later? I will understand if you do."

Zechs rubbed his forehead with a hand that shook slightly. "No, I really don't want to. I think I need it. I don't want to think about this just now. There's not enough Intel to even start a proper investigation. Please."

Wufei just nodded. "You're very tired. But if you're sure, I would like this very much."

"I'm sure. . ." Zechs bit at his lip. "I have a confession to make. I'm not sure whether you'll be angry or not."

Wufei raised his eye brow. "Why not just say whatever you have to say and let the . . . er . . . chips fall where they may."

"Yes, I think you're right . . . um . . ." Zechs fished in his jacket pocket and produced the cord. "I removed this. Rather hurriedly."

Wufei inspected the cord with a slight frown. "I see no reason to be angry. You couldn't afford the distraction. Perfectly understandable." Wufei noticed that Zechs seemed a little disappointed. "You think I should be angry? Why?"

"I . . . I'm not sure. I'm so tired I can't think. I'm sorry."

Wufei prodded and pulled until Zechs was on his knees on the floor with his head in Wufei's lap.

"Don't be sorry. I know you're tired. Sleep now. It's at least an hour's drive with this traffic. Don't worry about anything. Just let go. I'm here. I'll take care of you.ཁ

Wufei slipped the tie off the end of Zechs' braid and started gently unraveling the silken mass. He ran his fingers gently through the plait until it came loose, then he continued to stroke the soft strands. Zechs drifted off almost at once.

Wufei sat and relaxed himself. He thought Treize was a fool. Zechs deserved to be treated with respect no matter what his preferences were. Wufei knew that many men would take advantage of Zechs, seeing his needs as weakness. But Zechs was anything but weak. His needs were just different and Wufei saw no need to worry about them. They'd reach an understanding. Wufei smiled as Zechs made a soft snuffling noise in his sleep.

When the driver opened the door, Wufei bent over Zechs and patted him on the back.

"Come on, love. You need to wake up. We're home.ཁ Wufei never realized the deeply satisfying glow that simple sentence created in Zechs.

"Um. Let me wake up a little. Wouldn't do for me to be staggering in the door at this time of night."

Wufei let Zechs stretch and yawn himself awake then went ahead of him through the foyer and up the broad stairs. The click of Zechs' boot heels followed him down the hall and into their rooms.

Wufei turned to Zechs just inside the door. "Now about that cord."

Zechs bit his lip. "I should have asked before I took it off. I'm sorry. I'll endure any punishment you choose. Just . . ."

Wufei raised an eyebrow, he hoped Zechs wasn't going to say what he was afraid he would.

"I . . . don't be angry." Zechs sighed.

Wufei put his arms around Zechs. "I'm only angry that you think I might be. I didn't tell you you couldn't take it off. And I never will. I expect you to respect my desires unless they interfere with something like this. This was much more important and you know it."

Wufei hugged Zechs, who relaxed and hugged back.

Zechs laughed softly. "I take it that you are going to humor my excesses?"

Wufei poked him in the stomach gently. "Yes, I'll humor you. I would like to be undressed please. As to some of your other . . . requirements. I don't see the need to pretend. Unless you are into role playing of some sort. You feel you require punishment for things you've done. Sometimes the need is overwhelming. I would rather you came to me than went somewhere people don't understand you. I've heard things I don't like. And I refuse to go into it, thank you." Zechs had helped Wufei off with his coat while he'd been talking.

"I'll do whatever you like, but there will be no foolishness. We'll set up safe words and boundaries. I'm fairly sure I know all yours. Mine are simple . . ." Zechs held up Wufei's studs. "put the studs on the dresser. . . No blood. If I draw blood, it will be an accident. Whatever we are doing will stop at once. I'll dress whatever wounds there are and the scene will not continue. I refuse to bruise you. If I do, it will be a true accident. I'm well trained in these sorts of things. I know you don't understand but my clan was rather down to earth about such things. We didn't discuss them but everyone knew that certain things were done and I was trained to do them correctly. So . . . I've read your requirements, if you remember."

Zechs nodded as he put Wufei's shirt aside. He couldn't believe that Wufei was so comfortable with his perversions. Wufei smiled at Zechs.

"Finish undressing me."

Zechs knelt at Wufei's feet and leaned toward him. He started to attempt to unbutton Wufei's trousers with his teeth.

"No, with your hands. I want to feel them on my body. I don't like teeth. A little licking, yes; teeth, no."

Zechs scooted closer to Wufei and carefully opened his fly. Then he took off Wufei's shoes and socks, tucking the socks into the shoes and setting them aside. He pulled the trousers down and let Wufei put on hand on his shoulder as he stepped out of them.

Wufei obediently raised his arms and allowed Zechs to push his undershirt up. Zechs slid his hands up Wufei's ribs, stroking hard enough not to tickle. Wufei sighed contentedly. It felt so good. Zechs had large hands with long, narrow palms and slender, strong fingers. His palms were slightly calloused from weight lifting and felt wonderful sliding up his rib cage.

"I like your hands. They're warm and just calloused enough."

Zechs blinked. He hated his hands. They were skinny and white. He secretly thought they looked like spiders. He folded Wufei's shirt and set it aside, then hung the trousers on their hanger, adding the jacket.

He picked up Wufei's shirt, checked to make sure that he'd gotten all the studs out and tossed it into the hamper. He returned to Wufei and waited for further instructions.

"Kiss me."

Zechs blinked. "Excuse me? Um . . . where? I mean . . ."

Wufei smiled and pointed to his mouth. So Zechs kissed him. Their tongues slid across each other exploring. Wufei had to tip his head back uncomfortably. Zechs realizing what was happening slid to his knees, then he had to be uncomfortable. He found it erotic to have to reach up to his lover, instead of looming over the smaller man.

Wufei murmured against his lovers lips. "Mmmm, kneeling isn't necessary. Get up."

Zechs sighed. "I like it down here. Nice. You're tall."

Wufei laughed gently, pushed Zechs away and climbed on the bed. "Undress for me."

Zechs stood and gave Wufei a puzzled look. "Strip tease? I don't think . . ."

Wufei just shook his head. "No. Just undress as you usually would. Only move a little more slowly. Go on. I just like watching you."

Zechs shrugged and did as he was told. This wasn't exactly what he'd expected but he was quite willing to do whatever his lover wanted. He was enjoying giving up, letting go, doing what he was told instead of struggling to do things exactly right. He knew it was stupid but he had to do things just right. He still remembered the time when every mistake he made meant someone was injured or killed.

So he undressed for Wufei. First he took off his shoes and socks, tucking the shoes away in their place in the closet he dropped his socks in the same hamper with Wufei's shirt and turned to see Wufei laying on his side on the bed, his head supported on his fist. He was smiling gently and he was naked. Zechs wondered briefly why he noticed that so particularly, he knew Wufei was naked he'd undressed him.

Wufei smiled at Zechs and touched himself, just a touch. Not even anything really suggestive, just a simple touch. Zechs shuddered and bowed his head, struggling to control himself.

"Finish, please." Wufei motioned with his hand.

Zechs pulled his shirt out of his trousers and started taking out the studs. His hands shook, so he clenched his fingers, then tried again.

Wufei noticed but didn't say anything, he just enjoyed the show.

Zechs put his studs on the dresser mixing them in with Wufei's, Wufei noticed the significance, Zechs was too busy trying not to throw up.

Wufei waited as Zechs finished undressing and turned to face him. He just looked for a moment and let Zechs look back.

"Come here. Don't hurry. I like watching you walk. You move so well."

Zechs blinked. "Like a well-trained puppy."

"Stallion. Gorgeous. Bring that slipper."

Zechs shuddered slightly. "Yes, sir." Zechs bent to retrieve the slipper from under the stool, then he went to Wufei.

Wufei had now settled himself against the headboard and was sitting with his legs out stretched. He patted one thigh, signaling where he wanted Zechs.

Zechs crawled onto the bed and knelt offering Wufei the slipper. Wufei took it and patted his lap again, Zechs laid across it, positioning himself properly without prompting.

"I . . ."

"If you say what I think you are going to say, I'll double the punishment."

"I'm sorry. And . . . yes, please. I shouldn't have . . ."

SMACKཀ

Wufei brought the slipper down on Zechs with a stinging blow. Zechs flinched before he realized that it stung sharply, but it only stung. There was no thud.

"You did what you should have done. No more discussion. Double the swats now. And I expect you to keep count. If you lose track, I'll be very disappointed."

Zechs grimaced, if he lost track he'd have to start again, which he hated. "I'll be good. I can keep track."

"See that you do. If you lose track, I'll stop. You'll like that even less than starting again."

Zechs was so startled that he rolled over to stare at Wufei. Stop the scene. That was really a new one. Wufei smirked at him.

"Oh, and hold still a moment. We forgot something." Wufei reached under a pillow and pulled out a new cord. He bound Zechs again making sure that he would have a great deal of difficulty coming without permission.

Zechs whimpered softly. "MeineGott." Wufei just pushed him back into position.

Wufei smacked Zechs again then continued to spank him spreading the swats across his rounded backside carefully. He sighed, Zechs was beginning to turn very red. Perhaps too red. He stopped to touch, carefully judging his condition by the heat of his flesh.

"Gott in himmelཀ Shinhao, nicht. . . I mean, don't stop now."

Wufei considered, carefully weighing Zechs's needs against the heated appearance of his ass.

"I'm not sure . . ."

"Ach, I blush quickly. Mine . . . dammitཀ"

Wufei smacked Zechs hard, making him moan softly, it definitely wasn't a moan of pain. "I don't care which language you speak, my German is good. Just pick one, please. How many is that?"

"Zwanzig. Twenty. I can't . . . I keep forgetting. And . . ."

Wufei rolled Zechs over and kissed him bending to his mouth to caress his lips gently stroking him at the same time. All Zechs could do was whimper and accept the kiss. Wufei ran one hand over his lover'schest stroking and pinching his nipples until he was completely mindless. Turning him into a mass of want and need and please.

"Stop that. I don't care which language you speak. Just enjoy. Stop worrying. If you don't calm down, I'll stop and you won't like that, will you?"

"Nein, nicht. . . du . . . liebe gott. "

Zechs gave up completely and collapsed onto Wufei's lap again.

"Count out loud."

"Ja. Ja. Count."

"In English."

Zechs groaned. "LiebeGottཀཀ You're killing me."

"In English, count. . . now."

Smack.

"Twenty oneཀ"

Smack.

"Twenty two. 'Feiཀ"

Smack.

"Twenty three. Gott in himmel, 'Fei, please."

Wufei stroked Zechs again. He was getting very hot, in more ways than one.

"Ich can nicht mehr. . . Bitteཀ Mausi . . .Bitteཀ"

Wufei smacked him three more times, commanding him to count, which he did.

Zechs struggled to contain himself but he finally couldn't help himself. He kicked, not at Wufei just a reflexive jerk of his legs.

Wufei held him down for a second until he could contain himself again.

"Now, That was bad. And you know it. How many?"

Zechs sobbed softly.

"Sechsundzwanzig . . . twentysix."

"Kicking isn't allowed, is it?"

"Nein es nicht . . . Verzeihungཀ I'm sorry!"

Zechs didn't know what to do. He wanted relief, he wanted to please Wufei. His backside burned from the spanking, but he wanted more. He sobbed again. Wufei pulled him against his chest and stroked his hair.

Very good. Just let it out. It's good. Ser gut. Ja?"

Zechs sighed and snuggled against Wufei. It felt so good just to be able to let go.

Wufei put him back in positionand Zechs braced himself for another round of smacks, instead he got a warm slick finger pressed against him. He shuddered, this always hurt.

Wufei snarled softly. "He was always too rough with you. I can tell . . . relax. You have to relax or it will hurt. Softly . . . Gently . . . Easy." Wufei carefully inserted one finger and pushed, sliding in by slow increments, until Zechs managed to relax.

Wufei soothed Zechs with voice and hands until he relaxed completely. Then he continued to stroke and coax until he had three fingers in and was sure he wouldn't hurt Zechs with what he did next.

"On your back please. I want to see you."

Zechs scrambled to obey, moaning as moving reminded him of his bound condition. Wufei rewarded him with a deep kiss that left them both breathless.

Zechs bit his lip, trying to keep quiet. Wufei picked up the remote for the stereo.

"I'll turn on some music. Would you like that?"

"Ja. They. . ."

Wufei put one finger on his lips. "They probably wouldn't notice a bomb going off. But I know you're sensitive about that. Now . . ."

Wufei pressed Zechs down on his back again and kissed him gently. "You'll like this I think."

Wufei had Zechs grasp his ankles and pull his legs back, spreading himself wide. He groaned and obeyed leaving himself vulnerable, open to Wufei's gaze. Wufei looked at Zechs and stroked him for a moment, making Zechs nearly scream with need.

All he could do was babble and beg. "Bitte, Mausi, bitte. . . bitte. Do something."

Wufei positioned himself behind Zechs and groaned. He was needy too, but he was going to see to Zechs before himself.

Zechs whimpered as Wufei entered him in a slow push that opened him without any pain. It felt so good that the only thing that kept him from embarrassing himself was the cord which bound him.

Wufei stopped and leaned in to kiss him. The kiss was so intense that Zechs didn't notice busy fingers removing his bonds.

Wufei brought them both to climax with the William Tell Overture playing in the background.

Zechs sighed and wrapped his arms around Wufei.

"Ach, ser gut."

Wufei snuggled against Zechs's chest and sighed himself. It was good. Very good.

He waited until Zechs was nearly asleep, then he got up and went into the bathroom, returning a few moments later with a wet cloth, some towels, a brush and two hair ties.

After washing Zechs carefully, he brushed out his hair, plated it in a loose braid and put a tie onto the end. Zechs barely woke up. Then he brushed and tied his own hair. He had no intention of waking up to snarls and tangles.

Zechs reached out for him so Wufei settled himself in his arms and fell asleep with Zechs's breath on his neck.

Heero thanked the driver and turned to see Duo opening the door. He looked as tired as Heero felt. This was bad. They both had to be in the office Monday at 8:00 A.M..

"Come on love. Let's get to bed. We'll both be worthless if we don't get some sleep."

Duo yawned, patting it back with one hand. "Yeah. But . . ." he gave Heero a cheeky grin. "Let's knock boots first. I'll manage. We're still young enough to . . ." Duo yelped as Heero dumped him over one shoulder and headed for the stairs. "I can walkཀ Heyཀ Owཀ"

Heero smacked him on the butt and told him to shut up.

Duo alternately laughed and swore all the way to their rooms.

Heero kicked the door shut and tossed Duo onto the bed.

"Heyཀ Easy there. We'll break another bed. Zechs'll have a fit."

Heero smirked at Duo. "Yeah? Don't think so. Did you hear as we went by their room? He's going to be sitting funny tomorrow."

Duo smirked back. "Oh, yeah? And I'm not. Nope, not me."

Heero raised an eyebrow and jumped Duo.

Duo opened his arms and grabbed Heero around the waist. They wrestled back and forth across the bed, tearing the covers off and wadding them into knots.

They kissed and cuddled, wrestled and rolled. They dumped the bedspread and top sheet onto the floor, one pillow followed soon after.

Heero tucked the other under Duo's hips and wasted no time; snatching the proffered tube of slick from Duo's hand, he slathered it on and slowly, carefully worked into Duo. Duo cooperated fully, breathing easily and opening to Heero with a minimum of fuss.

Heero sighed. "Ah, that's nice. Just a second. I'm gonna blow if we don't stop."

Duo moaned softly. "Jaysus Cee on a crutch. Man, I'm gonna take over if ya dun do summat."

Heero knew that Duo was half gone, he always reverted to L2 slang when he was either angry or ready to burst.

He bent over and kissed Duo thoroughly letting his tongue lave every centimeter of the willing orifice.

Duo pushed Heero back with his chin making a 'mmmphf' sound. "Aasy there lurv. Slow down. We'll both pop before we're ready."

Heero angled his hips just right and thrust. Duo arched his back and screamed, nearly incoherent immediately. Heero yelled and they both exploded.

"Oh, fuck. Oh hell. Wow.ཁ Duo flopped back on the bed. ཁThat was way too fast."

Heero shrugged. "Again?"

"In a minute. What do you think about tonight?"

Heero settled on his side next to Duo. "Not much. Preventers will take care of it."

Duo snorted. "Not a chance in hell. With no international boundaries they've got their hands full. And they have all sorts of silly rules they have to obey. Civil rights and all that crap."

Heero reached over and rubbed his hand over Duo's belly. Then he started stroking him to hardness again. It didn't take long.

"Suck me?"

"Fuck you."

"Only if you can wrestle me down."

Duo snorted. "Word?"

"Word"

Heero lay back and let Duo take him into his mouth. It was wet and warm and felt so good. He let himself relax and enjoy Duo's attentions.

Duo drew back, waiting until Heero came back to himself a little. Heero gave him a muzzy glare, then realized that Duo wanted his attentions too. They changed positions and Heero returned the favor. They nibbled and licked, suckled and nuzzled. Each pleasuring the other until they both exploded again.

After a few moments spent in dazed recovery, they realized that the bed was mussed beyond comfort.

Duo groused as they remade the bed. "Yuy, you're a royal pain in my ass."

Heero smirked at Duo across the bed. "Want me to kiss it better?"

"No, thank you." Duo glanced at the bedside clock.. "Fuck and I don't mean that literally. It's two in the morning. I'll be awake at six. That damn maid bangs around in the hall closet for at least ten minutes just about then. You don't wake up, you asshole."

"I'm just less paranoid than you. I know the difference between threatening noise and cleaning noise."

"Yeah? You're so normal?" Duo's sarcasm made Heero snicker.

"You're just jealous. I got therapy for that."

Duo threw Heero's pillow at him and slapped his onto the remade bed.

"Sleep . . . now . . . smart remarks after breakfast."

"Not with? You're slipping."

Duo ignored that with dignity and crawled into the bed. Heero joined him and gathered Duo into his arms joyful that he could touch Duo, hold him, sleep with him; at last.

They drifted off together.

"Good morning."

The maid cringed, Master Yuy didn't look too happy.

"Gutten morgen, Herr Yuy"

"Go back down stairs. Tell the housekeeper that no one. No one. Is to be in this hall until after we all wake up. There is a distinct possibility that sudden . . . banging noises could set off reactions you'd rather not participate in. Do I make myself clear?"

The look that accompanied Heero's words made the maid scurry away quickly.

Heero sauntered back to the suite satisfied that he'd taken care of Duo's problems. He was totally unaware of the stir the maid would make in the servants quarters

"He was just there. I never heard a thing. Just there, all cold threats, and naked too."

Needless to say no one was ever in that hall again before all the pilots were up, unless it was an emergency.

Zechs woke to something tickling his nose. He caught at it but missed, opening one eye he saw Wufei smiling down at him.

"Awake?"

Zechs sulked. "No. Go 'way. Sleepy."

Wufei tucked the covers around Zechs and wandered into the bathroom, he still felt sticky and sweaty. His quick sponge down last night hadn't done the trick.

After fiddling around in the room for a while, Wufei decided that he really didn't want a quick shower. He shut the bathroom door so he wouldn't wake Zechs and started the tub. He'd have a good soak instead. Finding the bath oil he wanted he poured some into the running water and watched as the tub began to fill. He settled in as the tub was about half full and let the tub fill the rest of the way while he was in it. The warm water soothed him as he settled into a slight doze again.

He idly went over the events of the last evening and began organizing his thoughts into a list of facts and questions. He'd have to consult with Heero and the others later.

Wufei felt strong hands slip over his shoulders, he leaned his head back to look into still sleepy blue eyes.

"Gutten Morgen, Mausi."

Wufei scooted forward in the tub. "Same to you, Mingzhen. How are you this morning?"

Zechs slipped into the tub behind Wufei. "Not too bad. A little sore."

Wufei sighed. "I'm sorry. I should have prepared you better."

"No. I've been without for . . . nearly three years now. So I'm bound to be sore. It'll fade quickly. I have a fast recovery rate."

Zechs picked up a sponge and started to wash Wufei. Wufei let him, enjoying the attention. When Zechs was done Wufei scooted around to face him. Taking the sponge from Zechs he washed his chest and shoulders, admiring the strong set of shoulder and the long column of his neck.

"I'd like to get that Connaway in a dark alley. Giraffe, my ass. You're so beautiful. How . . ."

Zechs put a finger on Wufei's lips. "Never mind him. He's a social pariah now. Forget him. You can't possibly believe I'm beautiful. I'm too white, too tall, and skinny. You . . . you're beautiful. Tight and golden and regal. You make me look like a spider, or a monkey."

Wufei shook his head with a furious look. "Stop that right now. The next time I hear you say something like that, I'll make sure you regret it. You will not denigrate yourself like that."

Zechs gave Wufei a startled look. "I just say the truth."

Wufei frowned. "You are mine. I don't have things that are ugly. Therefore, you are not ugly. I have spoken." Wufei crossed his arms over his chest and nodded firmly. It was a little less dignified that it could have been, as he was waist deep in a bathtub, but Zechs got the idea.

"As you wish." He ducked his head to hide the smile that was trying hard to turn into a delighted grin. He turned to allow Wufei to wash his back and sighed happily. It felt really good.

"Verdamnit. . . mess. . .shit." Zechs swore again as he realized that his braid had fallen into the tub before either he or Wufei could catch it.

Wufei eyed the sodden mess with resignation. "Never mind. It needs washing anyway. Stop fussing. I'll help you with it."

So Zechs took his hair out of the wet plait and settled to try to wash it. He usually washed it in the shower, but if he tried to get out of the tub and into the shower, he'd drip all over the place. Wufei took him by the shoulder and stopped him from trying to throw the mess over his head to dunk it into the tub.

"Not like that, just slid down and tip your head back. I'll do the rest."

Wufei guided Zechs as he talked until he was half lying down in the tub. He tipped his head back and shook it wetting all his hair and his scalp thoroughly. The water was warm enough still that it felt good.

Wufei opened the drain and started letting the water out. He didn't want Zechs to rinse his hair in the oily water. The bathroom was warm enough that they wouldn't get chilled.

Zechs watched as Wufei searched for the bottle he wanted.

"That blue bottle is mine."

"Not anymore. That scent is totally inappropriate for you. You're not a rose sort of man. Why you . . .ཁ Wufei gave Zechs a considering look. ཁNever mind. You need something not quite so sweet. And that soap is, as Duo would say, just nasty. Do you like sandalwood? Or amber. Not civet, too strong alone."

Wufei sorted through the bottles mumbling to himself, Zechs just waited for him to make up his mind. He couldn't care less what he used. He just used whatever he was handed. He'd been using the same products since the academy. If Wufei wanted him to use something different, so be it.

Wufei finally made his selections and brought the soap and shampoo to the tub.

"Sandalwood, thyme and bay. Very masculine without being strong. And you don't have any conditioner."

"I ran out. Just use whatever there is."

"Not a chance in hell. That stuff is awful. Smells like coconut. You can do without once. I'll have some made up with the same scent as the soap and shampoo. Lean back a little."

Zechs leaned and Wufei shampooed his hair for him. He wondered a little that Wufei was experienced in washing long hair. Then an image of Duo popped into his head. That mass of hair equaled his own. He relaxed again.

Wufei started the water again, carefully adjusting the temperature so it was comfortable.

Wufei soothed Zechs, and his own frazzled nerves, with simple scents and careful motions.

They finished washing out Zechs's hair and Zechs insisted on washing Wufei's hair for him.

When they were finished, the bathroom was greatly the worse for wear. They'd managed to splash and splatter water all over the floor. The tub was full of hair and towels were scattered from one side to the other.

Wufei gazed with some dismay at the mess, but when he started to pick up Zechs stopped him.

"I know you were trained to pick up after yourself and I find that admirable. But I pay my people a great deal of money to pick up after me. I haven't gotten to enjoy the fruits of my rank very much. So I've decided that I'm going to start. Leave it."

Wufei started to argue then just dropped the towel he was holding, he really didn't feel much like cleaning up all this and Zechs was right.

"All right. This once. But we shouldn't take advantage no matter how much you pay. There's no excuse for leaving this kind of mess on a regular basis . . . come here and I'll blow dry your hair. Then you do me . . ." Zechs smirked. "Assཀ" Wufei got out the blow dryer and pointed it at Zechs. Zechs put his hands up as if it were a gun which made Wufei laugh. "Behave yourself. I'm hungry and want my breakfast. If we don't get going, Maxwell will eat it all and there'll be none left for us. Come on."

Zechs laughed back and stood as Wufei dried his hair for him. It was something he was going to get used to very quickly. This having someone to do his hair.

After his hair was dried and braided, Zechs took the dryer and did Wufei's hair for him.

"Stop skinning your hair back so tightly. You've got traction alopecia something fierce. You're pulling the hair out by the roots. I'm going to put on the tie and you don't pull it so tightly. You hear me?"

Wufei nodded, causing Zechs to swat his shoulder and tell him to quit squirming. "Stand still. I can't work on a galloping goose."

After getting dressed in jeans and T-shirts they both headed downstairs barefooted to see if there was any breakfast left.

Heero watched Duo sleep until he knew he had to wake him. If he slept too long, he got up groggy and cranky and a cranky Duo was no fun. It was easy to forget that Duo was a street rat, that his happy personality hid a pure ruthlessness that was the only reason he'd survived two stretches on the mean streets of L2, Gundam training and a war.

"Wake up, Duo. Open your pretty eyes and smile for me. Hey?"

Duo's eyes popped open and he grumbled.

"'M awake. Swear. Go way. No wait, what time is it?"

"Nearly nine. Better get up. You'll be in a pissy mood if you don't . . . and we might not get breakfast. Zechs and Wufei will be up and eat it all."

Duo grumbled some more and crawled out of the bed. "I don't understand why we have to worry about eating in a house like this. What? . . . the kitchen is closed between some when and some when else?"

Heero shrugged. "It's a buffet mostly. I think they take it down before it spoils . . . or driesout . . . or something. Cook didn't really like us in the kitchen so . . . whatever. Just get up ok?"

"I'm up. I'm up. I swear. Just gonna catch a shower." Duo wrinkled his nose and nearly wailed. "I'm all sticky and . . . why didn't we shower before we went to sleep?"

Heero sighed. It was going to be one of those days. Duo, in this mood couldn't be satisfied. It didn't happen often, in the month they'd been back together it had only happened once. And before that only twice. But it was enough to make even him cringe. In this mood Duo would and had charged a stalking Aries barehanded.

"Duo, please, don't get in one of your moods. You've got to go to the office tomorrow and you won't rest today if you get all . . ."

"All whatཀ? Pissy? Dammit, Heero. I just. . . fuck." Duo threw up his hands and headed for the bathroom. Heero started to follow. "Don't. I want to cool off in a shower before I get in one of my . . . moods." Duo slammed the bathroom door.

Heero gathered up their dirty clothing and pulled the sheets off the bed. He tossed everything into the hamper in the closet and pulled out clothing for both of them. He decided on jeans, T-shirts and, after some consideration, left the choice of foot wear up to Duo. Heero wriggled his toes in the carpet and decided against shoes.

Duo slammed around in the bathroom, turning on the shower and rummaging for shampoo and conditioner, soap and towels. He knew he was in a mood, but he couldn't help it. He was sticky, sweaty and his hair was greasy. He wanted a long hot shower but, if he didn't want to miss breakfast, he was going to have to hurry. All his young life he'd had to hurry in bathing, now that there was plenty of hot water he wanted to enjoy it, and he resented being rushed.

Duo stepped into the shower and snarled his way through washing; he knew he was being unreasonable but . . . the water was too hot, then it was too cold. The shampoo smelled funny and the conditioner was slimy. The soap wasn't and the towels were. In other words he was in a mood.

Heero walked in, grabbed Duo and just hugged him until he gave up.

"Now, talk. What the hell is your malfunction?"

Duo shuddered. "I dunno. I just . . . it . . . shit. Heero just go away until I get a handle on this. I don't wanna get into a fight with you. I'm not fit company."

Heero refused to let go. "Duo . . . we were apart so long. I don't want to be away from you. Not even long enough for you . . ."

Duo put a hand over Heero's mouth. "I know not even long enough for me to take a shit." Heero blushed, that had been embarrassing. He'd missed Duo in the middle of the night and walked in on him. Duo had laughed but Heero was so embarrassed he'd gone back to bed and pulled the sheet over his head until Duo got into the bed. Then he'd spent half an hour trying to apologize. Duo'd blown it off as nothing and still teased him about it.

Duo took the towel from Heero and wrapped it around his wet hair. "I don't know what it is. Just. . ."

"I know. Relena. Someone's after her. Or after blondes. Several of the other victims were blond. Why not just relax until we have more data. Then we can . . ."

"Get told to fuck off by Une the Iron Maiden. That's what."

"No, Zechs isn't going to let it go and you know it. We'll have to be careful not to . . . flash our hand. But we'll take care of business. Zechs is her brother after all."

Duo brightened. "Yeah, got one there. She can't tell him to piss off, especially if Relena wants him to look into this. We need to talk to him . . . come on. Let's get going."

Suddenly Duo's day was looking considerable brighter, and so was Heero's.

Breakfast was still out on the side board when Duo and Heero got down. In fact Wufei and Zechs met them in the downstairs hall.

"We need to talk." Zechs blinked. The same sentence had come out of four mouths at almost the same instant.

Wufei deferred to Zechs with Duo and Heero just glaring. "I was going to wait until after breakfast but . . . load your plates and we'll put our heads together over the food."

Heero carried Duo's extra plate to the table and watched in amusement as he dithered between blintzes and fruit cup, finally he went back to Duo and simply dumped the fruit cup on the blintzes and bopped him on the head.

"Dummy. You're going to be sick if you eat all that. What the hell are you thinking?"

Duo froze a second and so did Heero, had he misjudged Duo's mind set?

Duo growled. "You eat like a fuckin' bird when you're worried. So . . . look at that plate. Stupid shit."

Heero glanced at his own plate and flushed. He'd taken a piece of toast and a small spoon of eggs. They looked lonely on the plate sitting next to his half full cup of unsweetened green tea.

Duo snarled his way back to his seat and smacked the plate on the table. He was in one of his moods and getting him out of it was going to be a job. Heero sighed, he'd thought he'd eased Duo past his pissy fit, but evidently not. He wondered what thoughts had pushed Shinigami so close to the surface.

Zechs settled in his chair and started eating. He was distracted thinking about the reports he was going to have to pry out of Une's clutches

"Dammit, Heero eat the mother fucker, don't just poke at it." Duo slammed his fork down on the table and glowered at Heero. Heero glowered back

Wufei flinched and nearly cowered in his chair. Zechs came back to the present with a start.

"What? Duo?"

Duo jumped up and snarled. "Don't wait for me. I'm not in any mood to fuck with Une and her . . ." he made a 'don't touch me' gesture, throwing his hands up, when Heero reached for him. "I'm going to the gym. You . . . eat." He pointed at Heero and then stormed out the door.

Zechs carefully put his fork down. "What the hell just happened. Mausi, I never saw you . . . cower like that before. Not from anyone. What is it?"

Wufei rubbed his face with one hand and reached for his tea with the other. Heero just looked somewhere between sad and mad.

Heero started talking and, with interjections from Wufei. Explained to Zechs that Duo was the most even tempered of all six of them but when he was in one of his moods. Things got blown up.

Wufei sighed. "I've only seen him like this . . . twice?" Wufei looked at Heero for confirmation. Heero nodded. "The last time he was this bad was the Zowallie Refinery, we were only supposed to destroy the cracker."

"But I got captured, they tortured me some and Wufei rescued me."

Wufei took up the story. "He was unconscious from some drug and a really nasty crack on the head. And covered with blood, some mine. Duo took one look and got that look on his face."

"Wufei couldn't stop him, he had me on his hands. Duo went in,in Deathscythe, and flattened the whole place. It's still just a smoking hole in Africa."

Zechs looked disgusted. "I told Commander Abasi not to touch you. It was my fault entirely." He buried his face in his hands. "Gott is meir. Is there no end to the apologies?"

Heero shrugged. "Duo stepped on him. And I know it was against your orders. Not your fault. Forget it."

Zechs gave Heero an anguished look. "I'm sorry. Wufei . . ."

"Don't worry about it. We did what we had to. You kept your people under control and didn't allow atrocities. But you can't be everywhere all the time." Wufei went to stand behind Zechs and place a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

Zechs shuddered once, put his own grief and confusion aside and demanded to know what they could do for Duo.

Heero shrugged. "Stuff him in a straight jacket? Except he'd chew his way through the straps and blow up the house."

Zechs blinked for a second then noticed Wufei's smile. "If you two don't get serious, I'll . . ."

Heero smirked. "Let him alone. He'll go to the gym and work it off, or he'll go running until he drops in exhaustion. Wufei and I will make sure he only blows up what needs it. But he can scare even me when he gets like this. So step carefully until he's back to himself."

Wufei returned to his breakfast and Heero settled again too. Zechs poked at his food for a while and finally gave up.

"If you are done, we could retire to the study and try to get some information out of Une."

Duo went to the gym and worked on the heavy bag until his hands, ankles and knees were sore. He wrapped his arms around it and stood panting trying to get himself under control, but the thought of having to work with Une had him completely off balance. Objectively he knew that she was just doing her job. Subjectively, he couldn't decide whether he hated her or was scared of her, or both, or what.

Duo shook his head, if he got any more confused his head was going to explode.

He flopped down on the floor and sprawled out to cool off, he wished for a towel but he'd forgotten oneso he'd have to do without. He knew Heero and the others were going to avoid him until he went to them.

"Well, shit."

Duo rolled over and started to stand up, but he heard a funny scrabbling sound in the hall, so he flopped back and waited. Sure enough, Binky came bouncing through the door. She looked well, she was gaining weight and the sores were healing well.

She scrabbled across the slick floor and hopped on Duo's stomach. Duo hugged her gently and then held her at arms length while she did her doggy best to lick him from two feet away.

"Well, little girl, you look good." Duo tickled her ribs, checking to see how much weight she'd gained. "Getting a nice weight on you." Duo tucked her under his chin. "Good girl."

Binky licked Duo's chin and cheeks and anything else she could reach. Duo let her lick for a moment then pulled her down onto his lap. He surged into a sitting position and petted her for a while.

"Where's your keeper? You slipped your leash, you little stinker."

Binky barked happily and struggled to be put down. Duo plopped her onto the floor and waited for whatever was next. Next was Binky showing off the tricks she'd been taught.

A Maltese is a bit of a stubborn dog. They don't like to be bossed around, but Binky, like her brethren wanted to please, so she sat up, rolled over, spoke and offered to shake hands. Duo was delighted, clapping his hands and giving her lavish praise.

The footman in charge of her showed up, skidding in the door panting and a little wild eyed. Duo flinched, Binky yelped and the footman groaned.

"Sir, I'm so sorry. I turned my back for a second and she was out before I could get her. She just wants to be with you. I'll take her back to my rooms."

Duo just hugged the little dog in apology for scaring her and said. "It's ok. I need to spend more time with her. You've been teaching her tricks. That's good. You have to show me how to get her to show them. Come on. I got some feather smoothing to do and she's . . . stop! I give . . . Licking the shit outta me."

The foot man relaxed and smiled, Duo obviously liked Binky very much. He followed discreetly so he could take Binky back to her quarters as soon as Duo was through playing with her. He realized that the young man was in a better mood now than he'd been just seconds ago. He'd heard the swearing and had gone to see if Binky was the cause. Happily, she wasn't.

Duo stood in the study doorway, rubbing the back of his neck, with Binky at his feet.

"Um . . . guys? How pissed are you?"

Heero came up to Duo carefully. He looked into his eyes and relaxed. "You're all sweaty. You ok?"

Duo sighed, snuggled up to Heero and grumbled. "Better, I just can't stand the thought of working with the Bitch of the West."

Zechs eased up to Duo careful not to step on Binky. "You don't have to. Une can't risk letting us work on this. I'll be able to get most of the reports, one way or another, but she won't know anything about whatever we decide to do. Ok?"

Duo leaned down and scooped Binky up, he found cuddling the warm little body made him feel better. Heero snickered slightly as Binky managed to lick his chin.

"Why don't we have . . . what is your name? . . . get Binky a treat?"

The footman replied, "Ralph, sir. I'll be right back with some food . . . you might want to watch her. She hasn't gone walkies yet."

Duo blinked, puzzled and mouthed 'walkies' at Wufei. Wufei snickered, "She hasn't pottied yet."

Duo brightened. "Ok, she hasn't shit yet. I get it. And when did you get so damn mealy mouthed."

Relena spoke up. "Since I'm here. Not that I care. I'm so tired of being . . . cosseted. Sit down and talk to me."

Duo turned red, stammered and elbowed Heero in the belly.

Relena managed to put everyone at ease. Teasing Duo about 'pottie mouth' and telling Heero that he was too tense. Wufei had settled himself next to Zechs and Relena raised her eyebrow gently.

"Well, first, the doctor told me I'm fine. I have a headache but not nearly as bad as the time I had too much wine. They poked and prodded me and took blood again. I'm waiting on the results."

Duo snarled, Heero flinched as did Wufei Relena looked at Zechs who shook his head. Now was not the time for her to ask questions.

Heero realized that they were probably feeding Duo's mood so he just told Relena the truth, Duo was in a bad mood and they were trying to work him out of it. He left the nastier details out.

Duo grinned at Relena and then cuddled Binky again. The little dog whined softly and wriggled.

"I think she wants out." Relena absently reached for a bell that wasn't there.

Duo put Binky down on the floor and she scuttled to the French doors that led to the patio. He followed her and, much to everyone's amusement, turned his back when she squatted. She whuffled softly and returned to scratch at the door to be let back in. Duo followed with a soft expression on his face, his demon quieted for now.

Heero settled on the couch and let Duo lean against him. Wufei settled at Zechs's feet. They all turned to Relena who sighed and started her story.

"I can't get Lady Une to cooperate. She doesn't want you mucking about in her investigation, her words, not mine. She seems to have taken umbrage to Duo's attitude." Relena held up her hand when Duo started to say something. "I personally would probably have trouble working with someone who tried to have me killed too. So . . . please don't take this the wrong way. Just let it go. Please. I am going on tour starting day . . . ooops. No tomorrow. We moved it up a day. I'll be all over the place. It'll be very hard for anyone to . . . pull any more stunts. I'm looking forward to this so . . . don't frown at me like that brother."

Zechs had the grace to look a little shame faced. "I'm sorry. I never heard you chatter like this before. I think I like it."

Relena turned up her nose. "I don't chatter. It's not lady like. And I don't slurp my tea and I don't wear comfortable clothing. And I don't . . . and I don't . . . do anything fun. And I hate this suit. It's too tight in the waist and too loose in the bottom and the jacket binds me under the arms. Oh, dear." Relena dabbed at her eyes with a tiny scrap of lace that was just about useless.

Heero poked Duo. Duo grinned, produced a bandana the size of a small flag and handed it to Relena. She took it with a sniffled 'Thank you.'

"Zechs would you please call Lady Une and pull strings. 'Fei, stay with him will you?"

Wufei nodded. Zechs would need his help if Une decided to let them have files, she was notorious for sending files so fast that they didn't down load properly. Easier to say yes and then corrupt the files, than argue.

Duo picked up Binky and headed for their rooms with Heero chivying Relena along behind. Relena wasn't arguing in the least she trusted both Heero and Duo and wanted to see what the 'braided menace' was up to.

Duo went straight to the closet. "Heero, where's that pair of jeans that I bought that was way too loose in the butt." He poked his head out of the door. "Not that you've got a big butt, just that it's bigger than mine." Relena gave him a wide-eyed look. "Oh hell. Heero I'm talking and I can't shut up." Relena clamped a hand over her mouth and giggled.

Duo grinned and dove back into the closet. Relena and Heero could hear him rummaging, opening and closing drawers and rattling hangers. Relena picked up Binky, who obligingly settled in her lap with a huff.

Finally Duo came out with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, he had also found a large button up shirt.

"Here, go in the bathroom and change into this. Take off the hose, stockings, what ever you call them. I'll find you some comfortable socks. And if I was you, I'd go shopping and get some decent jeans and shirts. Get something girly but comfortable. Sneeks, loafers, a nice pair of sandals and a really good pair of hiking boots. Don't let them sell you popular stuff, get good quality. Go to a camping goods store. Go . . . go . . . Scat."

Relena set Binky down and went where Duo pointed. She came back out in short order with the suit over her arm. She looked completely different. She looked like 'the girl next door' and her smile lit up to room like a flare.

"Oh I do like this. The jeans are a little tight in the . . . er . . . backside. But they're long enough and the shirts are so nice. And nothing is pinching, or too tight. Duo. . ." Relena looked embarrassed. "Can I have a hug?"

Duo grabbed her and hugged her tight. "Sure thing, sweetie." Duo pushed her away gently. "Look, I'm sorry I was such a butt earlier."

Relena shrugged. "I don't care. I know what your problem is. Une . . . don't worry. I'm not going to pressure you to work with her. I know you're working for WEI. Do you know what Quatre is up to?"

Duo shrugged, looked at Heero, who shrugged. "Not a clue. Didn't you ask once before? Answer is the same."

Relena laughed. "Well, you can't blame a gal for trying. I do like these jeans. Is it all right for me to sit on the floor?"

Duo snorted and flopped down on his belly. "Pull up a piece of floor and take a load off."

Relent tried to flop but couldn't quite manage. Heero settled cross-legged next to Duo and waited.

"Ok, what's up?"

Relena picked at a thread on the jeans. "I'd like to know who started calling me 'the pink panic' and why."

Heero grunted. "Trowa. Because every time I saw pink, I panicked. It was a little unnerving. How you could find me when Oz couldn't."

Relena blinked. "Oh, that was easy. I just used the private school underground network. A guy like you shows up and every girl in the school will be calling all her friends to find out anything she can. And I know _everyone . . ._ what!"

Duo rolled over onto his back and roared with laughter, Binky eyed him for a second then jumped on him. Heero turned so scarlet he looked like he was going to combust.

Binky barked happily and flounced from person to person collecting hugs and pats and returning licks.

When he finally quit laughing, Duo explained that they had gone crazy trying to figure it out. Relena looked embarrassed and muttered 'Sorry.' Binky distracted them by showing off her beg. Heero reached into his pocket and produced a piece of bacon which he gave to Binky, who groveled happily at his feet until he gave it to her.

Relena shook her finger at Heero. "You shouldn't feed her off the table, she'll quiteating her regular food. If you want to give her treats, you should give her commercial goodies. They're better for her."

Heero smirked. "But she likes this better. And not every thing good for you is good for you. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing."

Duo nearly died laughing and Relena gave Heero a blank look.

Heero surged to his feet with Binky under his arm. "We better get back down stairs before Wufei has to sit on Zechs to keep him from going after Une."

Duo nodded, saying, "Yeah and I'll give Binky back to Ralph. She's worn herself out jumping on us." Duo rubbed Binky behind the ears. "Tired yourself out, didn't you girl?" No one was surprised to find Ralph waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Duo handed Binky to Ralph who she immediately started licking. Ralph gently discouraged her as he took her away for a well-deserved nap.

When they got back to the study, Relena went straight to Zechs. He had a thoroughly disgusted look on his face. Wufei looked sour.

"Well, she told you to . . ."

Wufei muttered something in Mandarin that made Heero blink. Zechs grumbled, "She told us that Preventers had everything under control. They couldn't control their bladders without help." Zechs jumped up and stormed around the room yanking at his braid and swearing in German.

Relena sighed, "Brother. . . brother . . . BROTHER, SIT DOWN!"

Zechs jumped a foot. "Relena? . . . look, I'm sorry, I'm being a . . ."

"Prick. Sit down so I can explain something." Zechs threw himself into a chair so violently that he tipped it slightly. Relena gave the others pointed looks until they sat too. "I moved up the date of my tour so that I'd be a moving target. I also got in touch with Quatre. He'll be in touch with you so, I'm not getting into that. I don't want to know what you get up to. Whatever it is I'm sure it's justified. Now . . . I'm going shopping."

Zechs gave Relena a speaking look and then smiled. Wufei looked like the cat that got the cream and Duo and Heero were grinning fit to split their faces. Relena had just given them carte blanc to do whatever they needed to find out exactly what was going on.

Just then there was a tap at the door. When Zechs called "Come in." a footman stuck his head into the room, then entered. Binky darted between his feet, running straight to Relena who scooped her up.

"My lord, I'm sorry to disturb you . . . but there's been some vandalism in the gym." Zechs looked a little startled. "The heavy bag . . . sir, I'm sorry to report that someone has hit it with something . . . something that split the main seam. It's leaking sand all over the floor. We've started a search for . . ."

Zechs bowed his head and covered his eyes with his hand. Duo looked rather pink in the face, while Heero and Wufei both snickered softly.

"Um . . . sorry . . . really . . . that was me. I got a little steamed and sort of took it out on the bag.ཁ Duo turned to Zechs. ཁSorry man. Really . . . I'll replace it."

Zechs shook his head, his shoulders heaved a little and Wufei shot a sharp look at his face.

Whatever he saw made him smile.

Zechs straightened up with a smile on his face. "That's all right, Duo. I'm glad you worked out your ire on the bag instead of on my furniture. Don't worry about it." Zechs turned to address the goggling footman. "It's fine. Just Master Maxwell, working off some temper. Inform whoever needs it that they are to replace the heavy bag as often as necessary. It's not a vandal, just bad temper . . . or youthful enthusiasm."

The footman left to spread the word that 'that little, long-haired guy' had been the one who popped the bag.

After some fussing and fuming, Relena convinced Zechs that he was entirely too recognizable and couldn't possibly go shopping with her. He gave in with obvious reluctance griming, "I just want to go shopping with my sister. Is that so bad? I've never been shopping with you."

Relena went to Zechs and hugged him. Then she handed Binky to him. "She needs to go walkies again. Take her and quit sulking. I promise we'll go shopping soon." She hugged him, careful not to squash the dog.

Duo snickered. "I don't get to go either, do I?"

Relena shook her head. "Braid, eyes. Not a chance. We'll be mobbed in a minute."

Wufei took that precise second to remember he had to make a vid call that couldn't wait. His rather wild eyed look made Heero, and Duo laugh out loud and Relena give one of her little sniffs.

Heero groaned dramatically as he realized that this left him as the only one who could go with Relena. The idea of her going alone was very bad at best and going with a full complement of staff would defeat the whole purpose of the trip. Relena smacked Heero on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Heero grabbed his shoulder and rubbed it.

Relena gave him a disgusted look. "Oh, like I really hurt you. Come on."

Heero gave Duo a pathetic look which Duo just ignored.

"Relena, go call for the car. I need to speak to Duo for just a second. Please?"

Relena nodded, her high ponytail swinging merrily. "Sure thing. I'll be waiting for you in the hall. Do take your time." Relena smiled at Duo. "Thanks for loaning me your boyfriend. See ya."

Heero went to Duo who wrapped his arms around Heero's rib cage and put his head on his shoulder.

Heero hugged Duo gently. "Duo, I want you to call Dr. Terry. Ok? Please?"

Duo snuggled into Heero's shoulder and nodded against his shoulder. Heero's breath stirred the soft hair at his temple as he breathed in the smell of Duo's shampoo.

"Yeah, I'll call him the second you leave. Take Relena to that camping goods store at the mall. The one on the lower level. She'll find some nice stuff there. Just promise me one thing."

Heero cuddled Duo, rocking him gently, doing what he'd heard called the 'baby dance'. "Sure thing, lover. What ever you want."

ཁDo. Not. Let. Her. Buy. Pink. Please!"

Heero nodded, rubbing his cheek against the top of Duo's bowed head. "Ok. No pink. I don't think she'll want pink anyway. But I'll make sure. Just . . . erm . . . what colors should she wear?"

Duo snuffled and hugged Heero harder, Heero realized that Duo was laughing at him. "Laugh at me, will you? Remember, I wore spandex and tank tops all the time when I was training. And then prison slops. I have no idea. Besides, she's a girl. So . . ."

Duo stretched his neck up to kiss Heero. "No bike shorts. Tanks in pastels, other than pink. Jewel tones in blue and green. No black, no dark colors like purple or moss green. She's old enough that too many pastels make her look like she's afraid of getting old. Go on . . . git. I'm calling Dr Terry. It's kind of unnerving that I know stuff like that. Scatཀ Princess is waiting for you."

Heero turned with one last kiss and left the room confident that Duo would make his call.


	32. Mall Crawl

The Price 32

Mall Crawl.

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Heero grumbled as he climbed into the car. "If we don't get going, we're going to be gone all day. I want to hear what Dr. Terry has to say about Duo. And . . . "

Relena waggled her cell phone at Heero. "I'll call him in an hour. He won't tell me much but he will tell me if there's anything to be concerned about. Now, lighten up and let's enjoy the day . . . please?"

Heero checked his arms again and then shrugged to settle his harness. "Ok. I'll lighten up. But you're not dragging me through every high class toggery in the mall. I have orders from Duo, exactly where to take you. So . . . and mind me. If I say no that means no. got it?"

Relena didn't even bother to pout. She was just happy to be shopping without a gaggle of uniformed and highly visible Preventers officers hounding her.

Heero looked out the window and worried at his lower lip.

"Heero. Heero?" Relena gave up. "HEEEEEERROOO!" Heero jumped a foot. "Welcome back. Heero, what's got you so upset?"

Heero shrugged. "I don't like you going off without security." Heero held up a hand before Relena could fuss at him. "I know, you want to do things like a normal girl. But I can't help worrying. And what if the paparazzi get wind of this?"

"Let them. I'm tired of worrying about them. Let them make up their nasty little stories. The only people who read that tripe are uncultured asses anyway. Stop the fussing and let's have fun."

Heero shrugged. "Ok. Have fun. How do you do that?"

Relena gave Heero an open mouthed, horrified look. Heero grinned at her and snickered.

"Oh . . . you!" Relena swatted him on the leg and laughed back.

The car pulled into the parking garage and let them out at the basement door. Heero took a deep breath and resolved to make Duo proud of him.

He opened the door and scrambled out then turned to help Relena. He couldn't help but smile, she looked cute in Duo's jeans and t-shirt. And changing her hair had really changed her look.

"Hold my hand." Relena gave Heero a funny look but took his hand.

"Ok. Now what?"

"We go shopping."

Heero led Relena into the mall, hoping they looked like any one of the hundreds of other couples in the mall.

They walked around for a little while with Heero checking out the security and Relena widow shopping.

Relena sighed. Then she stepped behind a large planter, into the nook created by it and a wall. She snarled 'don't look' at Heero and stuck her hand up her shirt and pulled at her bra.

Heero hadn't looked but he'd seen her in the faint reflection on the polished side of the planter.

"What's wrong?"

"This damn thing keeps riding up on me. I hate it. And I'm falling out the top too."

Heero turned around and got an eyeful. Relena was trying to pull the bra down, while keeping enough cup up to cover herself comfortably. Heero didn't see how two scraps of lace and some wire and elastic could possibly be comfortable.

"Why do you wear something like that if it's not comfortable? It doesn't make sense."

Relena sighed and explained that all her under wear came from a chain store who gave it to her for the advertising. She also admitted that she didn't like most of it. It was sexy, but uncomfortable. Every thing matched, slips, panties, bras garter belts, everything. And she disliked most of it.

Heero glanced around looking for a certain store. He saw it and hauled Relena in its general direction. Relena took one look and hurried to keep up.

Heero walked into Victoria's Secret and looked around with dilated eyes. How could women wear some of this stuff? It looked impractical, uncomfortable and to his eyes totally not sexy.

Relena pulled at his arm. "This is where most of my stuff comes from. Why are we here?"

Heero's answer was practical. "They have all your sizes. All you have to do is pick out what you want and have it delivered. Just put your foot down."

"I tried that once. They didn't listen. I picked out what I wanted from a catalogue and I got . . . got . . . butt floss. I can't even wear it."

Heero gave the approaching saleswoman a warning glare. And he was just getting warmed up.

She recognized Relena at once and started in gushing, Relena grimaced. The saleswoman led Relena into a back room with a couch and chair set on either end of a coffee table. She told Relena to wait and she would bring her a selection of the newest products. Heero raised an eye brow and Relena mouthed 'every time' he snorted.

The woman came back with a selection of scraps of lace and elastic that made Heero blink. None of it looked practical, comfortable or even recognizable. Relena rejected it all with a short "not what I want."

The saleswoman appealed to Heero. "It's all very sexy, don't you think?"

Heero eyed a bit of black lace. "What the hell is that? I'm not sure I recognize any of this."

"They're panties. A thong. Don't you like it?" the saleswoman looked aghast. Here was a man who was obviously sex on two feet and he didn't like any of this?

"I'm queer. What do I know?"

Relena made a soft sound.

The saleswoman smiled stiffly. "Well, so you're a little eccentric. That doesn't mean you don't like sexy things, does it?"

Heero gave the woman a look that plainly said 'don't mess with me'. "I'm not eccentric, I'm crazy. At lest my shrink says I'm functional now. And I'm gay, homosexual. Not interested in women? And Relena is my friend. I wouldn't like for her to be uncomfortable anymore."

Heero pinned the poor woman with a glare that could strip paint off a shuttle at forty yards. She paled and gulped.

"I see. Well . . . um . . . what do you think she would like?"

"Cotton. White, beige, black. Not pink, or baby blue, or that stupid green that babies wear. Full cut. No butt floss. And the bra needs to be."

Heero flicked a bit of something or other with one finger.

"I'm sorry? Needs to be what?" Heero glared again. "Sir?"

"It needs to be. In that it should be visible, cover more than an inch of her breast, and not cut her into bits. Look here."

Heero reached out and pulled the neck of Relena's t-shirt aside, showing the sales woman where the spaghetti strap had cut into her shoulder. Relena smacked his hand causing him to laugh at her.

The woman gave up.

"Well, since you have such definite ideas of what Lady Relena should wear, why don't you come out into the store proper and show me."

So Heero did. He walked up and down the isles picking out what he thought looked comfortable and practical. He ignored garter belts and chose elastic topped stockings instead. Every thing was made of cotton and plain as he could find. When he was done, the saleswoman had an arm full of bras panties and slips.

Relena eyed the pile of things with a thoroughly jaundiced eye. She was already tired of the whole thing. She should like shopping; other girls her age loved it, but she always found it a trial of her patience as people told her what she should like and shouldn't. It was a waste of her time.

Heero took the first set from the waiting saleswoman and showed it to Relena. She blinked, this was more like it. It looked comfortable.

Heero handed her the plain white bra and pantie set and stuffed her in the changing room. "Try that on. I've got the same set in black, that pasty color . . . sort of brown. And a couple of other colors. And there's some sports bras. And a slip. . . why do you wear something like that."

"The color is beige. I wear a slip to keep from showing a silhouette in the sun and it keeps static electricity from making your . . . My dress . . . stick to me." Relena's voice was somewhat muffled by the t-shirt she was pulling off.

Heero listened to further rustling noises and some muttering. Then Relena came out fully clothed with a handful of scraps of lace. She handed these to the saleswoman.

"Pitch these. And if you ever send me any more of that crap I'll find someone else to do business with. If I need special foundations for a piece of clothing, I'll let you know. My everyday things had better be comfortable or I'll send them back. Got me?"

The sales woman sputtered for a moment then managed to voice her objections. "But my lady. It's unsuitable. A woman of your stature should wear only the finest of merchandise. What will people think if they find out that you're wearing . . . cotton?"

Relena raised an eye brow. "That I'm comfortable? That I have more sense than to be influenced by fad? That I have a brain of my own. Which I'm finally using, thanks to Heero." She tossed through the arm full of garments the woman still held. "No . . . no . . . ugh . . . sucky . . . yes . . . oooo cute . . . not a chance in hell . . . this is good . . . and this . . . and these." Relena dropped the rejects one by one on the table the things she found acceptable she handed to Heero. He just took them with a rather smug look on his face. "Ring me up. Oh, here's the tags from what I'm wearing."

The woman gave Heero a nasty look. "And what do you know about women's underwear that you could pick her so many things she liked?"

Heero shrugged. "Beats me. I just picked stuff I'd wear if I was a girl. I . . . " Heero gave the woman a considering look.

Relena snickered. "Well, that does beat all as nanny would say. You never even wore underwear for years. That goes to prove that you . . ." Relena snickered. ". . . Are the perfect soldier. You know stuff you don't even know you know."

Heero snickered at Relena, then they both cracked up completely. The look on the woman's face was priceless.

After ringing up and making arrangements to have the purchases delivered to the Residence they headed back into the mall.

Relena stopped walking, glanced at her watch and pulled out her phone.

"Wait a sec. I'm going to call Dr. Terry."

Heero waited while Relena talked to the doctor.

"Well, Duo's upset because someone ruffied me. Seems he's added me to his gang and any threat to his gang makes him go all . . . pissy. The doctor says he'll be ok, he just has to recognize that he can't do anything about this. My security is really good, there was just a . . . hiccup. Dr. Terry says that he'll be fine in a little while, now that he knows why he's upset. Duo that is not Dr. Terry. Oh hell. Well, you know what I mean."

Heero frowned for a second until he got Relena's rather convoluted sentence unraveled. He understood at last. He remembered the other times Duo had gone Shinigami. Both times someone had hurt one of 'his' people.

"He's getting better. If I remember correctly, the last time he got this upset, he. . . .um . . . stepped on someone. In Deathsythe. Caused a real mess."

Relena wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. That's a mental picture I could have lived without . . . but he's no worse than Milli . . . Zechs . . . or you. You're both just . . . quieter about it." She stuffed her phone into the pocket she'd pulled it out of. "Come on. Let's finish up, maybe we can get some snacks later. Ok?"

Heero just nodded. He liked snacks more than he'd thought he would. Duo had taught him a great deal in the few months between the end of the war and the beginning of his incarceration. Mostly fun things like, how to eat a cream egg, which movies were guaranteed to be boring; things he'd never experienced before.

Heero kept scanning the mall, flinching slightly at loud noises and people popping out of stores.

"Heero, calm down. What's got you so rattled."

"I'm not sure. One, you should have more security. And two, I'm not supposed to be here without a WEI uniform and Duo. I'm in his custody until further notice. Or my sentence runs out."

Relena snickered. "Well, you're in my custody. But I've seen you out in civvies."

Heero shrugged. "I was with Duo at your party on private property, the club is private property and the warehouse is WEI property. This is public as hell. So I'm jumpy."

Relena smiled gently. "I see. Well then, a disguise is in order. Come on."

Heero followed willingly enough and when he saw where they were going he snickered a little. "You know, Duo got banned from the whole chain of 'Odds and Ends'. They say he stole every bit of everything he used during the war from them."

Relena snorted. "Duo has much better taste than to even steal from them. But they're cheap and nearly every kid our age has something of theirs. So" Relena picked a hat off a rack and plopped it on Heero's head. But instead of pulling it down over his eyes, she set it on the back of his head. "There. Now you need . . ." Relena reached out and pulled Heero's t-shirt out of his jeans. "Ok. And . . . oh, I want that necklace and the bracelet that matches." She tugged the tags off and donned the jewelry. Heero took the tags to the register and paid for them.

The checker had been eyeing them askance but when Heero handed her the tags she smiled at him.

"Heero Winner-Yuy? You any relation to Quatre Winner?"

Heero shrugged. "Shirt tail cousin of some sort or other. Mother's sister's husband's aunt's something or other. You know how it is."

The clerk handed Heero back his credit card and grinned. "Sure do, sugar. I'm from Georgia and I got cousins from here to hells half acre and back." She started to hand Heero the tags then grinned and tossed them in the trash. "Have a nice day, Mr. Yuy."

Heero blinked once then grinned. "I plan to. Thank you." He glanced at Relena, who was fiddling with her scrunchie. "What do you think?"

"Sugar, I think you look like a couple of high school kids out playing hooky. You'll do fine."

Heero nodded once then rejoined Relena.

"The lady recognized me. But she said we look like high school kids. What do you think?" Heero shook his head. "I'm not sure why she recognized me. Do you know?"

Relena snickered. "You stand like you're being put on report or something. Slouch a little." Heero let his shoulders slump slightly. "Yeah. That's much better."

They left the store and wandered around a while. Heero watched couples closely for a while.

"You should put your hand in my pocket."

Relena yelped, "What? Heero, what . . . you're . . . we're . . . Duo will . . . no!"

Heero shrugged. "We're under cover. Duo won't mind. He'll understand completely."

"Heero Yuy. I'll do no such thing. It's undignified and . . . and . . . Duo will go all Shinigami on me. You just wait and see. Or don't. Cause I'm not doin' it."

Heero just put her where he wanted her, put his arm around her and stuck his hand in her back pocket. Relena jumped a foot. Heero pointed to another couple a little older than they. They were walking along with a hand in each other's back pockets. No one was paying any attention.

"We look like that. Or we stick out. Which will it be?"

Relena decided that she was going to take the chance to do something she'd always wanted to do without getting into a mess. So she stuck her hand into Heero's back pocket. The only thing she could think was, 'Oh, my god, he really does have buns of steel. Duo is so going to be pissed.'

Heero wondered if Relena was very out of shape, her buttock was very soft. Too soft if you asked him.

They continued to walk around the mall, Relena window shopping and Heero trying to relax. He was feeling better when there was a loud bang. Heero's reflexes identified '.22 long rifle' and took over. He pushed Relena behind him and started to draw his pistol. Relena grabbed his arm and dragged on it.

"No. Heero. Stop!" Heero was bracing against Relena trying to push her into the wall without hurting her. "It's the construction. Look." Heero looked where Relena was pointing. He saw a man fiddling with a piece of equipment. Then he tapped one part of it against the floor and there was another explosion.

Heero didn't even flinch this time. "What the hell is that?"

Relena shook her head. "I don't have a clue. Why don't we go over and ask someone?"

Heero thought about that then smiled a little "Sure, why not. Let's go."

So they went over and stopped one of the men who was carrying lumber to the site and Heero asked about the equipment. The man explained that the thing was a stud setter which used a blank .22 cartridge to nail floor studs to concrete. Heero blinked, he'd never heard of such a thing.

"If you're from the colonies, they don't use them. Too much pollution. The gunpowder mucks up the scrubbers . . . you kids better go on along. The boss is coming and I better get back to work."

Heero thanked the man and led Relena away. "Well, that went well."

Heero gave Relena a sharp look. "I nearly drew down on a construction worker."

"But you didn't. The minute you realized there was no threat you backed off. Before you'd have shot the man before I could have stopped you. I think you're doing quite well."

Heero gave her a doubtful look but she nodded encouragingly and poked him in the stomach. "Come on. I want that pair of boots Duo told me about."

Heero shuddered, Relena in combat boots wasn't something he was sure about. But Relena chattered about how she wanted boots; so boots she would get. He'd just have to make sure that they were practical, not stylish. He couldn't understand how something as practical as boots could be such a matter of contention.

Relena poked Heero in the side and pointed. "Is that the store that Duo was telling us about?"

Heero looked. "Yeah. Come on. I want to get you out of those sneaks before they blister your feet."

Relena grimaced. Duos' old sneakers hadn't fit her that well, and padding them with an extra pair of socks hadn't helped. "I think we're too late."

Heero grumbled, "I told you both that that trick didn't work. But neither of you will listen. So . . . let's go in and see if they've got a blister kit."

They entered the store and Heero quickly led Relena to the seating area and knelt to pull off her shoes. A clerk walked over to help and smiled at the picture of a concerned boy friend kneeling at his girlfriend'sfeet.

"Hi. Um . . . I'll do that. It's my job after all."

Heero didn't look up from examining Relena's foot. "She's getting a blister. Do you have a blister kit?"

"Sure thing. I'll go get one. My name's Joe, by the way."

Heero only grunted, making Relena roll her eyes at Joe. He just snickered a little and went to get the kit.

Heero poked and prodded at Relena's foot and decided that it was just a hot spot. He took the kit from Joe, opened the little packet of cream and rubbed some on the spot. Then he took out a piece of mole skin and stuck it on.

Relena wrinkled her nose. "What's that? It feels funny."

"Mole skin."

Relena yelped and jerked her foot out of Heero's grasp. "Mole skin. Ugh! Take it off."

Heero gave Relena a look that could only be described as 'deer in the headlights' then he laughed softly. "It's not really mole's skin. That's just what they call it. It'll keep anything from rubbing on your foot and making that hot spot worse."

"Oh, well . . . ok then. But . . . what should I do?"

Heero stood up and moved to the display of hiking boots. "Buy something that fits." He started picking up different styles, but he put them all back down again. He turned to Relena. "Would you please come here and look. I don't have a clue what you might like."

Relena flushed. "I'm barefooted."

Heero gave her a blank look. "So? The floor's carpeted. It's not like you've never gone . . . you never have, have you?"

"No. Not even from the bathroom to the bedroom. I always had slippers on." Relena walked over to Heero and took the boot from him. She examined it, but shook her head. "I'd rather have a low top I think."

Relena started picking over the boots herself. Heero realized that Relena was like her mother, a serious shopper. She was going to go over every boot that looked like it fit her requirements with a fine tooth comb. He settled himself down to wait. Joe came over and started doing his job.

"Here's a nice pair. They have a rolled stone collar. It's nice if you hike in the mountains. But if you want them more for street wear, try these. Relena Peacecraft has two pairs."

Relena goggled at the man. She didn't remember even owning more than one pair of any kind of hiking boot and she was sure they weren't pink and grey.

She blinked for a second then gave an exaggerated little squeak. Heero gave her a sharp look but, as she didn't seem to be in any danger, let her handle things on her own.

"Oh, sugar. I forgot. Excuse me. I have to make a quick call. I'll be right back."

Relena stepped far enough away that Joe couldn't hear, then called Dorothy.

"Doro. Do I own any boots made by . . . " Relena told Dorothy the name of the boot maker.

Dorothy replied almost at once. "Yes. But the boots they sent were the wrong size and shoddy. So they're in the back of your closet. Why?"

Relena told her. "Dorothy, no more of that. If I don't actually use the product, do _not_ let them use my name. Do I make myself clear?"

Dorothy smiled. "Yes, ma'am. And I don't do it. Your dresser does. You want me to have a little talk with her?"

"Sorry, Doro. I should have known better. And no, I don't want you to have a little talk with her. Have a big one. Include the word termination in there somewhere . . . thanks. Bye."

Relena snapped her phone shut and went back to Joe.

"I have it on good authority that she has them but never wears them as the construction is shoddy and they don't fit. So . . . and I really hate pink."

Joe shook his head. "You seem like a smart lady. You wouldn't believe how many girls are wearing those damn boots just because Peacecraft has them."

Relena wrinkled her nose. "Yes I would. But there are some changes being made . . . I like these." Relena picked up a boot. It was dark brown with black nylon gussets, of medium height with a stone collar. "I don't quite know my size. These boots seem to be different from shoes."

"That why your sneaks don't fit?"

Relena shook her head. "Those aren't mine. I wound up at their house without casual shoes. They belong to a friend of mine. Please be sure that you get them boxed up. I'll try these."

Relena returned to Heero and sat down beside him. "I want you to be sure that my boots fit right. Please?"

Heero just nodded. "Be sure there's no wrinkles in your socks. You'll get a blister if you don't."

Relena decided that she liked the boots and, after Heero made sure they fit correctly, she bought them. Joe packed the sneakers in the boot box and agreed to have them delivered. When she gave the address, he stared at her for a second then shrugged.

Heero led Relena back into the mall and toward the other sporting goods store. The one that sold the clothing Duo told Heero to help her find. This was going to be interesting.

Relena stopped to look in the window of a toy store. Heero stood behind her and eyed the large hoop in the display.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's a hula hoop. You . . . um . . ." Relena sighed. "I never got to have one. Nanny said it would wrinkle my dress too much. I'm not sure exactly what you do with it."

Heero looked in the window again. "Let's go in."

Relena shrugged and followed him through the door.

They walked down the wide aisles and found a display of the hoops. Heero took one out and examined it.

Relena wrinkled her nose in thought. "I think you put it around you and whirl it around your waist."

Heero flipped the hoop over his head and settled it around himself, he twirled it around his waist but inertia took its tolland it made a few circles then slowed and started dropping toward the floor.

"Doesn't seem like much fun to me. You have to keep picking it up and starting it again." Heero looked a Relena who shrugged.

"Don't look at me. I haven't a clue."

A rather shrill voice from more or less waist level announced. "You guys don't know anything, do you. You don't throw it around like that. You . . . um . . . sorta . . ."

Heero and Relena looked down at a small girl about eight years old. She was standing with her hands on her hips looking up at them with all the contempt that a child her age could muster.

Heero squatted to bring himself to her level "Well, why don't you show us. I never got to learn."

"You shoulda asked your dad for one."

Heero managed a small sad sigh, which was easier than he'd thought it would be. "I don't have a dad. Well, I did, but I never knew him. I'm an orphan."

"Oh. . . well, that splains it. Sucks. What about you?" she turned accusing eyes to Relena.

"I'm rich. Nanny was afraid she'd get in trouble if I wrinkled my dress. That sucks major too. Show us? Please?"

"Sure. Here . . . I don't want that one. It's pink. Pink is for sissies. I'm a tomboy."

The child picked out a green and white hoop and showed them how to make it work. Heero got the hang of it at once and merrily swiveled his hips, keeping the hoop going. He realized that it was just like the silver hoops he'd seen Trowa use in his act. Only he'd never seen Trowa do this. He only jumped through them.

Relena had a little more trouble but the girl, with surprising patience, kept showing her until she got it too.

"Marjorie, what are you doing young lady. You know you're not supposed to talk to strangers. Come here."

The little girl sighed, "Well shoot. Mom's gonna have a tizzy. I'm not supposed to get away from her in stores. She'll rag on me forever."

Heero quickly gathered up the hoops and put them away. "I'm sorry, ma'am. But she was just showing us how to . . . hulas? Neither of us got to learn. Please don't be mad at her."

The woman sighed and took Marjorie's hand. "I'm not mad, exactly. I was scared when I turned around and she was gone. Your parents would have been the same. I'm . . ." Marjorie tugged at her mother's hand. "Maggie, I'm talking to the man. What do you want?"

"I need to whisper." Marjorie turned to Heero and Relena. "'Scuse us please." When her mother bent down, she whispered in a youthful and carrying voice. "He's a orphan. He don't know. You shouldn't make him feel sad like that."

"Oh, dear. I'm sorry. I . . ."

Heero smiled. "It's ok. How are you supposed to know?"

"Well . . . all right. But you don't understand the dangers. If you'd been a bad person . . . or . . . I'm sorry . . . a pervert of some kind, it could have turned out very bad. You understand?"

Heero blinked slowly. "I do. And I'm not about to argue with you. But if you notice . . ." Heero pointed to the ceiling. "The security is manned. No one is getting out of the store with a child they didn't come in with. Alarms will go off and that man standing near the door? He'll have hold of whoever it is in a second. Just ask the clerk . . . but I'm glad to see you so concerned."

Relena smiled and held out her hand. "I'm happy to meet you. Please, thank you for allowing your daughter to teach us to . . . er . . . Hoop?"

Heero met Relena's eyes, it didn't take long for mother and daughter to join them in merry laughter.

They bid the two good-bye and left the store, under the watchful eye of the security man.

Relena leaned into Heero as they walked to the next store.

"That was fun. I'm going to have several of those delivered to the Residence. I can play with it in the small ball room there's plenty of space."

Heero nodded. "I want one too. Get me one please. Or several. I want to see Zechs and Chang try one." They both snickered over the idea as they entered the store.

Relena looked around and smiled, the clothing looked so comfortable.

Heero gave the place a quick shake down and decided that it was safe. He started browsing the racks himself. He really needed a new pair of black BDU's, but he knew the things here wouldn't meet his specifications. He was looking for black jeans instead.

Heero shuffled things around on the racks but didn't find anything he liked. He decided to requisition something from WEI then went in search of Relena.

He found her in the back of the store. She was holding a yellow canvas shirt with a doubtful look on her face.

"It's really the newest style. You'll look stunning in it." The sales lady was really pouring it on. The shirt was a disgusting mustard yellow. Heero saw at once that Relena should burn it instead of wearing it.

"You'll look washed out in that. You can't wear yellow . . . or pink . . . or beige. Jewel tones. I remember."

Relena held the shirt up to her chest and glanced in the mirror, she looked horrible. "I don't like it. And I don't think I like you much either. You lied to me to make a sale. Could you please get someone else to wait on me? Thank you." Relena waved the woman a way without thinking. She wandered off without even noticing the woman's hard expression. Heero gave her a glare and followed Relena.

Relena went to the rack of shirts and picked out a red one, then she found a bright blue one, and a green one. Heero wondered if she'd buy one of every color that she liked.

"I don't think I'll buy more that these three. I saw some really nice flannel in plaids. But these are a little too light weight. I'd like something heavier. You think?"

Heero fingered the material, it was a light weight canvas. "I think you'd be better off to layer. That way you can take off stuff if you get too warm and add another layer without getting bound up in the armpits." Relena snickered. "What? It's true. And I . . . Relena!"

But Relena was off in another snicker fit, Heero gave her a disgusted look and went to find some thermal Henleys for her to try.

After giggling some more, Relena tried the shirt on over what she had on now. It fit fairly well, but seemed a little too large. Heero returned to her with some knitted shirts and told her to go into the fitting room and try on a pair of jeans,one of the undershirts, and an over shirt.

She obeyed and found that she liked the dark grey cargo pants, lighter grey Henley and ruby red shirt. They were comfortable without being baggy or binding. She settled on wearing them out of the store before she even left the fitting room.

Heero eyed Relena when she came out of the fitting room, then he nodded his head and grunted. "Umph, Duo was right. Here, see what you think."

Heero had lain out several flannel shirts in various weights. Relena picked a Black Watch plaid, and several other plaid and solid shirts, then she picked jeans and cargoes. All together she picked out ten pairs of pants and as many shirts. She paid for them and again arranged to have things delivered to the Residence.

"Well, that takes care of that. What do you want to do now?"

Heero shrugged. "How about just walking around for a little while. We might find something one of us wants."

Relena shrugged "Ok, I never get to just walk around somewhere. I always have some sort of agenda or other. It will be nice."

Relena tugged at Heero, he let her lead him, enjoying the lack of anything important to do.

A sudden boinging noise made Relena jump, Heero just turned his head. The arcade was just around the corner. He decided to take Relena in, she might like some of the games.

"It's an arcade. Duo love's them. We used to sneak in one once in a while. If we weren't dodging Oz bullets . . . or you."

Relena sighed. "I said I was sorry."

Heero pinched her gently in the side. "Truth, not blame. We all did what we did."

Relena looked around. It was dim but not dark. There were no over head lights, all the light came from the games and a few can lights dropped down from the ceiling. There weren't many people in the arcade at this time of day, so there were plenty of games open.

Relena stopped by a game and eyed it. "What does that do? All it has is a . . . what is that?"

Heero glanced at it. "It's a grip tester. You squeeze that handle and it tells you how good your grip is. Want to try it?"

Heero produced a debit card and swiped it through the token machine. The unit obligingly gave an electronic cough and dispensed tokens. Heero gathered them up and handed some to Relena.

"Put a coin in the machine, take hold of the grip and squeeze. It'll tell you how hard you can grip."

Relena plugged in some tokens and took hold of the grip. The machine bonged and she squeezed. She giggled as the screen displayed, "Not so good. Hope you're a girl."

"That's sexist." Relena made a mocking face and tried again. She got a little better results this time, but she was still on the bottom of average. Heero had to snicker at her disappointed expression.

"Ok, mister. You're so smug, let's see what you can do."

Heero shrugged, stuffed tokens in the slot and waited for the signal. When he squeezed the handle the machine blanked out, but not before it registered over two hundred and fifty ppsi. As high as it would register.

Relena blinked. "Heero, I think you broke it."

"Yeah. J had to have a special one made for me. It went up to a thousand pounds." Relena gave Heero an astonished look. "I never actually got that high, but I got close."

"Oh . . . um . . . wow." Relena smiled. "Well, um."

Heero went to report the broken machine to the manager. He returned to Relena and started to lead her back out the door. But Relena saw a sign on the back wall that showed Wing Zero.

"Is this where the Gundam game is? I want to try it." Relena looked eager. Heero pointed.

"Through there. It's in a stadium now. Lot's of people like to watch, even if they don't play."

"Well, come on. I want to see it at least. Maybe if there's no line, you could . . . give me a demonstration? Or something."

Heero led the way through the room and into the stadium. They were stopped at the door.

"Watching or playing."

Heero glanced into the room and saw that the last player was just now falling out of the game, sweating and groaning.

"I'm playing. She might, if you can set it for a raw recruit."

"Sure thing . . . um . . . you're 05, right?"

Heero shook his head. "No, that's Chang. I'm 01. Why?"

"Just wondered. I'll set you up in just a sec. Go ahead and get the girlie . . ."

Heero pinned the man with a glare that made him make a noise suspiciously like 'ulp'.

"She's . . . no female should be disrespected that way. You may call her Miss."

Heero led Relena away to get her seated in the waiting section. He decided that she could at least try the game.

It didn't take long for the game to be set up, Heero settled in the pilot's seat and the entire audience to be on their feet. Heero put on his usual show of skill and dexterity.

Relena gasped and moaned and cheered along with all the other spectators.

Heero stepped out of the machine, wiped his hands on his pants and looked at his score. It read, "Congratulations you are a Gundam pilot." He smirked.

Relena was up next. There seemed to be a dearth of willing combatants, Heero thought he knew why. It was a lot harder to actually fight a Gundam than it would seem. He helped Relena strap in and checked to make sure that the game was on its lightest setting. Then he closed the door and went to sit in the first row.

It didn't take long for Relena to get into trouble. She didn't seem to know left from right. And she certainly didn't know up from down. She used up all three lives in less than five minutes. When she emerged from the game, she was sweating and gasping.

"Oh, my god. That was horrible, they were everywhere. Like . . . cockroaches on L2, as Duo would say. I don't know how you did it."

Heero handed her a bottle of water and helped her sit down. "We did what we had to do. It's the price we paid for peace. Take another drink, then I want something to eat. If you're done shopping, we could go to the food court. Ok?"

Relena shivered. "Ohhh. Goose walked on my grave. I'll be ok in a sec. Then I want food too. But what should we have?"

Heero thought for a moment. "Why don't we call Duo and ask him what we should have? I'm sure he warned me about some of the stuff we would find. A long time ago. And I don't remember exactly what he said we shouldn't eat. Come on. That . . . guy is going to come over and ask a bunch of questions that I'm sure I don't want to have to try to answer."

"Why not?" Relena gave Heero a puzzled look.

"Most people want to ask about my training, or just generally ask some stupid question that the answer to is either classified or nasty. You know. Did you ever get caught? Do you regret your actions? Did you kill my son/daughter/husband? . . . And the answers never satisfy them. I avoid that kind of stuff if it's at all possible."

Heero had been hustling Relena as gently as possible toward the exit as he spoke. Relena had started to resist but when she understood his answer, she cooperated. They made it out the exit without incident. They didn't see the doorman make a call on his phone.

Relena called Duo, who apologized for being what he called a royal butt. When Relena told him what she wanted he snickered. His advice was simple. "If it smells greasy, it is really going to be. Don't eat anything you can't pronounce properly. Don't eat any meat salad made with mayo, ya never know how fresh it is. And don't let Heero eat too much. He's miserable if his belly is too full and it makes him cranky. A cranky Heero is a trigger-happy Heero. Have fun and don't worry about anything. I'm ok, I got a handle on it now. Good thing I didn't go with. I'd have probably shot someone. Dr. Terry says I'm really territorial with my friends. Give Heero a kiss for me. Bye.

Duo rang off and Relena took a deep breath. She sometimes felt that a call with Duo was as exhausting as a day in negotiations. He was a bit of a 'steamroller'. She wondered how he could talk like that. He had to breathe she was sure she just wasn't sure when or how he did it.

Heero took in her slightly stunned expression with amusement. "I swear he breathes through his ears when he gets started. How is he? He didn't ask to speak to me?"

Relena shook her head. "No. He seems fine. I need to think about some of what he said. If I can translate Duo into English. He didn't ask to talk to you, but he did give me instructions. Let's go eat. I'm starving."

Heero was about to feel hurt that Duo didn't want to talk to him when his phone rang. "Hey, 'Ro. Love ya. Sorry I was a butt earlier. Relena tell you about it?" Heero grunted. "Good, good. And thanks for not making a fuss about going to the mall. I'd have done it . . ."

"You had no business here in that mood. Never mind. Love you. Dr. Terry makes sense, doesn't he?"

Duo laughed softly. "Seems I'm a territorial bastard. So . . . take care of the lady and have fun. See you soon . . . bye."

Heero folded his phone and pocketed it. "Let's go."

They headed for the food court and lunch.

Heero grinned at Relena. "It's a hot dog. And those are chili cheese fries. This is . . ."

Relena blew through her straw to shoot the paper cover at Heero. "I know what a soda is. I just never saw anything like this before."

Heero laughed. "All the food groups. Fat, salt and starch. Greasy meat covered in mustard and pickle relish. And fried potatoes with bean filled chili and melted cheese. We'll be queasy for hours. Fun."

Relena snorted. "Yeah. Real fun. If you get sick, I'm not rubbing your stomach. Hand me the ketchup."

Heero looked blank. "Not . . . ok . . . I guess?"

Relena snickered. "You mean to tell me no one ever rubbed your stomach when it was upset."

Heero shook his head. "No. In fact, the last time I had an upset stomach, J. punished me for eating what had upset it."

Relena made a face. "Nasty man. Here try this." She stuck a chili cheese fry dripping catsup at Heero. He obediently opened his mouth and tried it.

"Mmmm. Goo', 's 'ot."

Relena snickered at Heero's attempt to talk with a mouth full of hot, cheesy French fry. "Don't talk with your mouth full. You'll choke."

Heero grinned and stuffed another fry into his mouth. Relena helped herself to another and dipped it into the chili. As they ate, they both looked around, enjoying the opportunity to just be themselves.

After wiping the last of the chili cheese off the cardboard 'basket' they tossed the messy papers into the trash and finished their soda standing by the trash can.

Relena looked over Heero's shoulder and groaned. "Oh hell. Look who's here. The Rodent himself. Hide me."

Heero turned around to see a skinny, sandy haired boy/man coming toward them at a fast walk. He was already whining.

"Miss Relena, you shouldn't be here. This mall is so common. I'm only here because Mother's upstairs maid saw you and recognized you."

"Robert." Relena's flat voice and one word salutation surprised Heero. It was as near to rude as he'd ever seen Relena.

"Come along with me. Mummie told me to bring you home at once." Robert reached out to take hold of Relena. She dodged his hand with obvious distaste.

"I will not. I'm with an escort of unimpeachable qualifications. Don't touch me." Relena backed up, putting her hands behind her back. She really didn't want Robert touching her. His hands were so clammy as to qualify as wet.

Robert finally grabbed Relena by the wrist, she pulled back, but Robert was just strong enough that she couldn't get away. She made a soft whimpering sound that went straight to Heero's nervous system.

Heero reached out and caught Robert by the offending wrist. He found the bundle of nerves there without even thinking about it. He pressed it and Robert had no choice but to let go of Relena. He jerked on his now throbbing arm, but Heero held on with no effort at all. Robert jerked again and yelped as his own movements put more pressure on the nerves. Heero gave him a bland look.

"You want to stop that any time soon? . . . I can hold on all day." Robert's continued struggles didn't even move Heero, it was like struggling against a stone statue.

"Who are you? Let go of me? Miss Relena doesn't have proper security, she should be with at least four security men or at home as is proper."

Relena snorted. "I'll have you know that Heero is better security than a dozed other men. And I refuse to stay home." Relena turned to Heero. "And don't you dare turn loose of him. He'll grab me again and his hands are all sweaty. Yuck!"

Heero just nodded. "I'll hold him until you tell me to let go. What do you plan to do about him?"

Relena smiled slyly. "I'm calling mall security on my cell. I'm tired of putting up with him. I wonder how hard it would be to get a restraining order. I really do feel like he's stalking me."

Robert made an indignant noise but Heero's glare had shut up braver men than he. He sputtered for a second, then gave up the struggle to get free of Heero's iron grip and just stood still and silent.

Relena made her call and security turned up almost immediately, Heero was impressed. Someone had recognized Relena or him and followed them, possibly with the mall's security camera system.

The security men listened to Relena as she explained that Robert was following them, trying to touch her and generally making a nuisance of himself. They took him away to where Heero neither knew nor cared.

"Who is that? He's . . . clammy. I think I need to wash my hands." Heero eyed his open hand with a slightly disgusted expression.

Relena produced a small bottle of anti-bacterial gel and squeezed some into her palm then passed it to Heero who followed suit. They both rubbed the stuff in and Heero handed Relena his handkerchief. She wiped her hands on it then handed it back to Heero who used it as well.

Relena plopped back down on her chair and grumbled. "The congress has been trying to get me to marry. I don't want to get married just yet. You realize that I'm not even eighteen yet? And they want me to produce an heir as soon as possible. Well, if that's the . . ." Heero interrupted her.

"Do _not_ tell me they want you to marry that . . . sweaty, skinny, abomination. That's . . . ridiculous. He's not fit to . . ." Heero trailed off as Relena nodded her head.

"Yup. They want me to marry that greasy little weasel or someone else just as bad. Excuse me. I am going to call a judge and get a restraining order against him. I refuse to put up with him . . . mauling me. Some of the others are just as bad. . . . wonder if . . . well . . . never mind."

Heero made a face. "No wonder you're so 'boy shy'. Who the hell had that idiotic idea?"

Relena shrugged. "Not a clue. But members of the congress have been after me for . . . well . . . not exactly years but quite a while . . . since the end of the war, to get married, have children. Create a new generation of Peacecrafts. Yada, yada, yada." Relena addressed someone on her phone, nodded with satisfaction and hung up. "Well, that takes care of that. I've got a permanent order against him, his mother and his aunt. They're all nuances"

Heero nibbled at his lower lip for a moment. "Perhaps it's not the men so much as it is the wives. Some of those women seem to abhor unattached young women of any rank. And having you as a distraction to their son's can't be easy for those who want to marry off their kids. You distract the boys and show up the girls."

Relena made a rude noise, but Heero just nodded firmly and pulled her out of her chair. He pointed her in the general direction of a door. All he wanted to do was get her out of the mall before something else happened.


	33. Back to Work

The Price 33

Back to Work.

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Heero managed to get Relena back to her townhouse without further incident. She kissed him on the cheek and went inside with a quick wave at the door.

The driver didn't ask where Heero wanted to go he knew. They reached home and Heero went in search of Duo. He found him in the smaller lounge, playing a video racing game with Zechs.

Duo looked up, lost concentration and Zechs left him in the dust. Duo growled, "I'll get you back for that." Zechs just grinned and tossed his controller aside. Remarking he wanted to find Wufei he sauntered out, braid swinging jauntily.

Heero settled behind Duo on the couch and tugged him into a hug. "You're a dead man. I'm never going shopping with that woman again."

Duo rubbed his head against Heero's chest. "It couldn't have been that bad. You're still in one piece."

"Not really bad. But I never saw anyone buy that many clothes at one time in my life. There's not a rag left in the mall."

Duo snickered. Heero was learning to exaggerate and joke, much to Duo's joy. "Well, lover. Did you buy anything?"

"Relena bought me something."

Duo turned his head to peer up at Heero through his bangs. "Yeah? Well, what?"

Heero smirked at Duo, paused a second, until Duo elbowed him in the belly. "A hula hoop." Heero's bland expression caught Duo by surprise. He blinked, caught up with himself, and spluttered.

"She bought you a what? A hula hoop? Oh, hell." Duo giggled himself right out of Heero's embrace and onto the floor where he rolled back and forth alternately snickering and fighting for breath. Heero watched with a disgusted expression.

"Well, when you're done being an ass, we could go find something to eat. Something that's not chilicheese fries." Heero had to laugh himself. Duo's eyes were so wide they nearly popped.

"You fed the former queen of the world chilicheese fries? I wondered what you were calling me for. You for real did?" Heero nodded. Duo crowed "Excellent!" and dragged Heero down to the kitchen to find a snack.

Wufei smiled when Zechs entered their quarters but it faded when he realized that Zechs wasn't happy.

"What is it love?" Wufei slipped his arms around his taller lover.

"You're going into the office tomorrow. I'll miss you . . . we . . . haven't been apart since I was put in your custody."

Wufei smiled. "We won't be parted. You're coming with me."

Zechs rubbed his cheek against the top of Wufei's head. "But you have work to do. And I'll just be in the way."

"Don't worry. I've been reading my email, unlike a certain braided baka and his lover. Quatre is up to no good. And we're going to enjoy the fruits of his labors. At least I am."

Zechs whined and wheedled but Wufei refused to say another word only telling Zechs that he should be prepared for an explosion when some people decided to read their emails.

Duo grumbled softly, he wanted to make love to Heero, but Heero insisted that he read a backlog of email that made his head spin. Heero was taking care of his backlog with ruthless efficiency.

His mail consisted of messages from several people from the facility, Pete and Trowa and Quatre. Lady Une had sent him two and Sally Poe one. He deleted unknown senders without opening them. He didn't want to have to deal with a virus. It took him exactly ten minutes to pare his backlog down to thirty or so messages that he actually had to read and respond to.

Duo, on the other hand, corresponded with a variety of people from all stages of his life. Every kind of person from spacers to sweepers to who knew who. All of whom he felt deserved a personal reply, or at least a newsletter. He spent the better part of an hour composing the newsy mass letter. Then he spent another twenty minutes fine tuning that and picking who got it instead of a personal letter.

He spent another half hour on the remainder of the casual acquaintance part of his backlog. Then he started on the rest. The first email was from Lady Une, still pestering him to work for Preventers. He sent her a firm refusal and a request to stop emailing him.

When he reached the mails from Trowa he sighed. They were all newsy communications telling him about the work on the new colony Quatre was building. He wished he was there. He sent a reply to Trowa apologizing for not responding sooner and telling him all that had happened, he appended the newsletter for good measure.

Heero made a snorting sound that distracted him from his efforts, but when he turned an enquiring eye his way Heero just told him to finish with Trowa's mail and read Quatre's.

Duo did so and nearly exploded. Wufei was going to be very disappointed in the morning. Quatre had removed him as head of the department. He was now resigned to training. Mr. Lyons was head of the security department now. Duo didn't mind, he just kind of resented having been notified by email the evening before he returned to work.

Then he looked at the date of the mail and realized that it was two weeks old. He settled back for a second to pull himself together. He also realized that he shouldn't be upset about being told by email. Quatre was in space and the time lapse between L4 and Earth was something like fifteen minutes for a phone call.

Duo thought and thought, trying to decide if he was mad or relieved. He wasn't that good at desk work. The thought of it made him edgy, so he was glad that Mr. Lyons had the job, he would be good at it. And he deserved it.

Heero pulled Duo into a gentle embrace. "Don't be mad at Q. You know he hates wasting resources. And we're all wasted at a desk job. Even if you did work in a lot of training too. Now you can do what you're good at. You know what Quatre's up to, don't you?"

Duo shook his head, "Not really. He's up to something, I know that. Just exactly what, I'm not so sure of. So . . . oh, great swami, enlighten me."

Heero snickered. "Quatre is as crooked as a dog's hind leg. He's working his way into having his own surgical strike team. Guess who."

Duo goggled at Heero for a few seconds. "But . . . why? I get that he wants us. But . . . ok, dumb L2 brathere."

Heero shut Duo up by kissing him. "No, you're not dumb, you're just too honest for this kind of thing. " Duo sneered at Heero, who pinched him in the ribs and got a smack in the head for his troubles.

"Stop flirting and get on with it." Duo got out of Heero's lap and gave him a glare. "Tell."

"Ok. Think about it. There's no borders anymore. Things and people move without hindrance of any kind. Anything that is stolen can't be traced easily. Kidnapingis on the rise. And hostage situations are rampant. Most of the police forces can't afford to train a swat team and keep it at ready. Quatre is going to offer us as a solution to the need for a well-trained team. We'll be available to anyone who can afford us and on special assignments as needed. Since we're unilateral there's no conflict of interests. WEI will be policing its self. With us as backup to WEI regulars. We'll be a team in and of ourselves. But I think Quatre has ideas about us training teams and perhaps heading teams of our own."

Duo goggled at Heero and mouthed 'oh, shit' In other words, they were going to be completely outside the law, as the law wasn't capable of handling the cases they were going to be taking on. Even Preventers were going to be hiring them. Heero smirked at Duo with some satisfaction.

The next morning saw them seated in the small breakfast nook in the conservatory. Duo admired the orchids with an absent sort of interest. The new one's were very nice. Zechs poked at the orchids and nibbled on a piece of toast. Heero ate his breakfast without comment. Wufei ate part of his food but left the bacon complaining that it wasn't agreeing with him.

Heero realized that they were all nervous about this, he was too, but he didn't see any reason to allow nervousness to spoil his breakfast. He was worried about Wufei, he was having way too much trouble with his stomach.

The drive to the WEI facility was easier than they would have thought. One of the things that Quatre had finally managed to do was acquire them all drivers licenses. Heero thought letting Zechs drive first was a nice touch. Even if Duo did remark "well, age before beauty, you know."

Zechs drove with a decided flair but no near accidents. He pulled into a parking spot smoothly and put the car in hibernate. Everyone got out and headed inside. They didn't make it far.

"Excuse me gentlemen. I need to see ID."

Duo sneered. "ID? We've got . . ."

Heero patted him on the arm. "Show your ID. It's regs." Heero gave him a significant look. "I think you implemented them."

Duo had the good grace to flush. "Damned if I didn't. Sorry guy. I'm a little . . . on edge."

They all produced ID, Wufei handing Zechs his with a small smirk. Heero handed his over with a grin at Duo.

The guard examined the plastic clad cards and motioned them inside with a grumble.

Duo turned around and went back.

"Look, pal. I don't know what your problem is so why don't you explain it."

The guard decided to be up front with Duo. "I know who you guys are and where your ID came from, but I also know that the actual physical cards came out of your computers. It's . . . scary. If you can do it, what's to keep other people, people with ill intent from doing the same thing? Huh? See what I mean?"

Duo gave the man a stricken look. He was falling down on his job badly. He bit at his lip and started thinking hard.

"Man, you're right. I got to think about this. And . . . shit . . . um . . ." Duo started to wander off, Heero collected him to keep him from disappearing on one of his miles long thinking rambles.

Zechs smiled at the puzzled guard and explained about Duo's habit ending, "so we don't want to have to drive miles to find him. I'm not sure he has his cell phone with him. Just his computer and I don't think it's easy to find a jack just anywhere."

The guard nodded and allowed that 'the boy' had 'that look.' "He'll be a danger to himself and everyone around him until he gets it figured out. My son is the same way. Kids! Go figure."

Zechs hurried to find Wufei. Wufei was standing in the nearby hall, rubbing his stomach and grimacing.

Duo settled at a desk and extracted his computer from his pocket. He booted it up and settled to work. He didn't even notice Mr. Lyons when he came in. Heero explained what was going on and made all the arrangements for the day with the grinning man.

Wufei and Zechs retreated to the office Wufei had occupied before. Wufei too had been promoted and his assistant had taken over his duties. Wufei couldn't decide if he was pleased or not. Not that it made much difference. When Quatre Raberba Winner made a decision, it was wise not to argue with him.

Wufei was disgusted, not with Quatre but with the entire situation. WEI was under attack from what Wufei thought of as 'ants'. Small time criminals who were breaking into warehouses and stealing what they could get their hands on. Larger criminals were doing the same thing on a grander scale in space, by stealing entire ships. And the smugglers who were bringing drugs and weapons from space onto Earth. He was tired just thinking of it all. And no one seemed to have the authority to do much about it. The laws were all based on having borders.

Zechs had settled himself at the partners'desk and begun to read all the reports that he had been told were for him. The secretary didn't seem to care who he was. She'd just grinned at him and said, 'I hope you have strong eyes, sir. Mr. Winner has requested that you read all the flagged files.

Zechs was glad that Heero had installed a resizeable monitor module in his computer when he'd built it. He could have two dozen threads open at the same time. It was a great help in cross referencing things. Things he wasn't liking at all.

Zechs wasn't quite sure exactly what Quatre had in mind but one idea was simple. The Gundam Pilots were going to be WEI's version of vigilantes, only legal. He was sure WEI's legal teams were assembling precedents at this very moment. For now it seemed that all Quatre wanted them to do was train security people. He could do that, he'd been training recruits since he could remember.

Heero was happy to realize that he was going to be partnered with Duo, Wufei and Zechs. He was so tired of being alone. He was eager to see what he was supposed to be doing. He watched Duo as he smirked happily at his monitor tapped in some commands, then shut down his computer.

Duo clapped his hands together then hopped up from his desk. "Well, partner. Welcome to WEI Security. We're the new training officers for the Surgical strike teams. Specializing in hostage situations, bombs, assassination threats and all that kind of nasty shit. Just like old times except now we're the good guys for sure. Ain't that a hoot?"

Heero shrugged. "All I want to do is ensure that peace is maintained. I was thinking of entering Preventers, but I don't think I could deal with Une."

Duo shuddered. "Me neither. I just don't want to deal with that woman at all."

"Zechs says that she was always weird. Skitzo."

"So she's nuts. Figures. Wonder what . . . but never mind. We'll find out what she thinks of this arrangement soon enough. Don't want to sweat it until we have to, right?"

Heero stretched out a hand and hauled Duo into his arms. "Not going to sweat anything until we have to. Come on. Mr. Lyons and I settled the days schedule between us. Unless you have something special in mind." Heero released his hug and pulled an electronic note book from his shirt pocket.

Duo shrugged, gave the tablet Heero handed him a quick glance and nodded. "Seems good to me. We're not actually under Mr. Lyons. Not that I'd mind that. But he'll be setting up the training schedule subject to our collective approvals. Wufei is going to love his job. You're taking over the computer labs and the gym weight training and what not as well as small arms training, I'll be doing training in bombs and street fighting techniques and B and E, Wufei will be teaching organization and martial arts. Zechs will be teaching . . . Hell I'm not sure what he's good at, I'll have to make sure not to set him up for a fall. Can't have that. He's got no self-esteem left."

Heero grunted. "He was a mobile suit trainer. And I think he'll be good at hand to hand. And small arms. I know he's good with long arms. We'll just have to see. Come on. We need to get together with Wufei and Zechs and get started."

Duo grinned at Heero and hauled him out the door.

Zechs's last really tired thought was 'this is going to be interesting.' then he just shrugged his jacket on and followed Wufei through the door into the gym.

Heero was standing there wearing, Zechs couldn't believe his eyes, black spandex shorts and a green tank top. He looked every bit of twelve, until you looked him in the eyes. Then he looked a very steely eyed hundred and twelve.

"The changing rooms are over there. Please change into the clothing in the baskets labeled with your names and come back."

Wufei bowed slightly and headed for the door Heero had pointed to. Zechs trailed in his wake, trying desperately to reconcile The Perfect Soldier with the smiling boy he'd driven in this morning.

"Wufei, is Heero all right?"

Wufei stopped with his shirt halfway off. "Sure. He's just in soldier mode. Don't do anything foolish and it'll be fine . . . oh, and don't . . . um . . . I'm going to be in combat mode for the duration so, don't hug me from behind or anything."

Zechs fiddled with his braid for a second then started stripping himself.

He pulled out the basket with his name on it and found a pair of loose pants and a t-shirt, the same type that he'd always worn for physical training. They were in the WEI colors of chocolate brown and buff. He wasn't too fond of the colors. They didn't suit him.

Wufei was already dressed when Zechs turned around. He was greeted by the sight of Wufei in dark navy blue tai chi uniform. He looked as fierce as his name sake.

"Hey! Found the clothing I see. . . "Duo bounced in. He was wearing red. Red pants, red shirt red shoes and a red bow on his braid. "Zechs, that brown looks awful on you. Wait right here. I don't know what that idiot was thinking. . . . "Duo's voice trailed off as he disappeared into the bowels of the locker rooms.

This wasn't the same facility that Zechs had visited several weeks ago. He realized that this was a different complex altogether. He wondered what Duo was up to.

Duo came back with the same type of clothing he was wearing. "All the training officers wear red, except Heero and Wufei. Here. Put this on. You look like sex on two legs in red. Wuffers if you let him get away, I'm pulling him into a three way with me an' Heero."

Wufei glared at Duo. "Maxwell, hands off my boy friend. You even look at him the wrong way and I'll cut . . ."

Duo wagged a hand in the air in casual dismissal of Wufei' threat. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you'll cut me twice. Deep and often. Got it in one. Just remember. You mess up and 'Ro and I'll pick up the pieces. Come on. We better get out there before Heero glares them all into a spasm."

Zechs eyed Wufei for a moment. "I don't think . . . he means . . . well . . ."

Wufei started stripping Zechs out of the shirt while exclaiming. "I'm going to smack that fool yet. He did mean exactly what he said. Heero likes you very much. Don't let it change your friendship with either one of them, but Duo meant what he said. If I betray your trust, they'll kick my ass to the moon, pick up the pieces and treasure you like you should be. If anything happens to me, go to them with my blessing. Until then, I so much as think you're doing anything more than what you should be. I'll blister you good. Now let's get out there before Heero comes to find us."

Zechs felt bemused and a little like he'd been tossed around in Talgeese without a harness on. What the hell had that been?

Duo watched as Heero examined his first class. He wasn't very happy with them.

They were all standing at what was supposed to be attention but they weren't paying attention like they should be. Duo sighed. Wufei and Zechs came to stand beside him and watch.

"If Heero gives us an order we snap to, ok?"

Wufei just gave a grunt and small nod, Zechs blinked then nodded his obedience.

Heero walked down the line of men and women and then returned to his place at the front of the room.

**/"/**Obviously you people don't know who I am. Or two other options you're stupid or crazy. I don't think any of you are either so I'll introduce myself. I _am _Heero Yuy. Do_ not _look at me and assume anything. You'll be wrong. I am trained in ways that would horrify you. I can do anything necessary to finish a mission. I can and have set my own broken bones, extracted bullets from my own flesh and I can bend steel with my bare hands. Everything I'm going to teach you I have done myself. If I don't know it, one of the other trainers does.

You've been picked because you're not only the best, you're the best of the best. The elite. Now act like it. When I say attention, I expect to hear your ass suck wind. I expect to hear your very bones snap to. Now . . . ATTENTION!"

The men and women snapped to like they meant it. Heero nodded his approval. "Count off. By four. Now."

The sharp one, two, three, four sounded out strong and clear. Heero ordered each group to a different corner of the room.

"You will be working out with one of the four of us. We _will_ grind you into dust and spit you out we will _not_ ask you to do anything we can't do ourselves. We will not only be nipping at your heels we will be stomping on them. If you can't keep up, you're out. If you are told to get your shit and get you will go. You will be reassigned to an appropriate group. If you wash out that does not mean you're not good. It'll mean you're not great. There is no shame in washing out of this outfit. This is not an exercise in 'quien es mass macho' who is the most manly. Just under half of you are women. I don't expect to see all the women wash out. Two of the scariest people I know are women. Now, your trainer will be with you in a moment." Heero turned his eyes on each group in turn. "Don't forget for a moment that each one of us is a Gundam pilot."

Wufei stepped up to his group. Zechs just stood and let his come to him. Duo eyed his group and waited for what he knew was coming.

"Ain't you a little young? I mean, hell. You look about the same age as my nephew." The man didn't seem like he wanted to pick a fight, he was more confused than anything.

Duo relaxed a little, this might not be so bad. "I'm probably about his age. I'm seventeen. I'll be eighteen in two months, I think."

"You think?"

Duo made a face. "Hey, Duo Maxwell? Orphan? Street Rat? Me." Duo wanted to tell the man to get a grip but decided that it wouldn't help matters any. He really wasn't that much of a smart ass.

The man blinked for a second, then sighed. "I was Oz, one of the reasons I regret it is you guys. So . . ." the man shrugged as if to settle some heavy weight. "What now?"

Duo shrugged too. "We train."

This looked like it wasn't going to be the usual. They all usually had to fight at least one idiot to prove that they could handle their jobs. This bunch had to be smarter than average or they wouldn't be here. Duo's group had just proved that they had a lot on the ball by just standing around and accepting him.

The other's had much the same experience. Zechs actually knew one of his men. Not well but he remembered him vaguely.

It didn't take long to realize that they were going to have to combine some of the training into larger sessions. Hand to hand was one of them. Bombs and explosives was another.

They spent a week just getting accustomed to the way everyone thought. Duo was happy, he was working with Heero. Heero was happy that he was working.

Wufei was enjoying working with Zechs and Zechs was just glad that he was doing anything.

Civics classes were interesting. They had come up with the idea that everyone should understand their legal boundaries, or lack there of. Zechs was chosen to give a talk on the how's and why's of their limitations.

He began by explaining that they had a rather broad range of responsibilities. And they could get away with quite a lot. All because the lack of borders had destroyed one of their greatest limitations; local law enforcement. There were city police and local sheriffs as well as the usual complement of highway patrols and such. But they were in chaos because they had no idea where their jurisdictions ended or began. And ESUN was not providing over sight.

"So we have practically unlimited authority. The locals are going to be overjoyed to see us in most instances and for the rest . . . we do what we need to do and make as little mess as possible. Any questions?"

A few hands rose tentatively. Zechs pointed to a man who looked like a fullback. "Yes."

The man stood and shifted from foot to foot. "How do we justify our . . . um . . . interference when the locals don't invite us?"

"There are several way we can justify it. Hot pursuit, even though there are no legal boundaries anymore most people still think like there are. Right of possession, we did it, we have the offenders, live with it. Or, if it's WEI property or we've been hired by the legal owners of the property. Right of ownership. Private property policed by a private security company. And WEI owns a great deal of the warehousing property on Earth and in the colonies. We have a great deal of latitude there. Quite a few of the other large business combines have hired WEI security to protect their properties."

"But, how can . . . I'm not even sure the question I'm asking. How can Winner get away with creating his own army? That's what we are, isn't it?"

Zechs nodded. "Yes. We are. And the answer is easy. Quatre Raberba Winner is rich. Very, very rich. If he wants to he can buy off, bribe or scare almost anyone. Not that he would, or needs to. Most people have no idea what is going on. They live their lives in a bubble of ignorance that is really appalling. Our job is to see that their bubble doesn't get popped. The smuggling is outrageous. Drugs and weapons are making their way into strata of the population that have never had easy access to such things. Street gangs have better arms than the police. The police are helpless because they've never been trained to handle such things. We come in where they can't cope. We're not here to write traffic tickets or handle domestic disputes. Aggravated assault and drunks aren't our business. Hostage situations, bomb threats, smugglers and so on are. Theft of massive amounts of goods which have gone from space to Earth or vice versa. That sort of thing. Mr. Winner has set things up so that we have powers beyond even the old UN, using old vigilante laws. It's our duty to see that we don't abuse them."

Zechs realized that most of the men and women in the room had just had a massive shock to their systems. He dismissed them, advising them to read the materials on their duties and obligations with special care. He hoped that all of the recruits understood what they were walking into.

Preventers didn't have as broad a range of powers, they had to answer to the ESUN General Council. WEI Security didn't. It was a bit frightening.

The next day was physical training.

Their original plans had been changed a little. The week had been used to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the entire group. They'd adjusted the personnel moving people from one group to another to balance them. Each group now had a combination of talents making them more effective.

All the members of each group were in top physical form it was just that some of them had different training. They all needed to be able to handle any situation.

So Heero and Duo sat down with Wufei and Zechs. Zechs advised them that they should 'ring the changes' on their men. Duo got a feral grin on his face. He loved it when he got to show off. Wufei just grunted and nodded. He wasn't fond of having to do demonstrations.

Heero smirked at Zechs who smirked back. They were both going to love watching their lovers.

They leaned against the wall and watched as the four groups were divided into two. One group of recruits who claimed mainly street fighting skills and the other who claimed martial arts skills. And, as the old saying goes, never the twain shall meet. It was better if they did, however. That was the point of this 'exercise'.

Duo stood at the head of his class, clad in his red instructor's uniform.

"Ok, guys. Here's a question. In a fight between a street fighter and a martial artist, who would win?"

He watched as all his students examined the question from all sides, looking for the trap that they were all sure was there. Finally one woman raised her hand. Duo pointed to her with a grinning 'yes?'

"Um . . . well, sir, I think it depends on who is the most ruthless. Or most skilled. Depends on so much." She shuffled her feet in embarrassment as some of her classmates snickered.

Duo nodded. "Come up here. You're right. It depends on a lot. Including luck"

The woman came forward and stood in front of Duo. She was easily twice his size and muscular in a way that indicated genetic engineering or hormone manipulation. Duo looked up at her and smiled gently.

"If we were to fight, who would win?"

She considered carefully. "You."

Duo blinked "You're sure?"

The woman nodded. "Yup. I've never been in a real fight in my life. All I've ever done was compete. I think, if push came to shove, I'm toast."

Duo turned his attention to the rest of the class, he was well aware of the snickers from some of the larger men.

"You're right. And you're going to make it. I'm not so sure about some of the others in this class. They don't seem to get it." Duo nodded to the women. "Go back to your place. You'll do."

The woman smiled her relief and went to stand back in her place, adopting the 'at ease' stance.

Duo motioned to one of the snickering men. He paled and babbled something about size and not me. Duo shrugged and went on to the next snickerer. This guy was all muscle and attitude, he was from Zechs's group.

"I'm sure you realize that I'll mash you into a greasy spot on the floor." He flexed an impressive biceps with a leer.

Duo just shrugged. "Size isn't everything."

"It's enough."

Duo waited for a second but when the man didn't do anything except flex he feinted. Flex ducked, right into the sucker punch to the diaphragm that Duo brought up from the floor. The guy oofed and bent over. Duo slapped him on the back of the neck.

"You're dead. That was either a breaking blow, or a knife. Depending on how dirty I'm feeling at the moment. Go back to your place."

Flex did as he was told muttering. "Jesus, he's quick."

Duo shrugged again and eyed the group. He was waiting for another question when Wufei came stalking over with his group.

"The whole bunch of them are hopeless. Spar with me!" Wufei's temper was on the ragged edge. Duo set himself and waited for Wufei to start.

Wufei attacked with a ferocity that made Heero and Zechs both flinch. Heero was just short of interfering but Duo slipped the attack. Ducking just enough that Wufei's blow went over his shoulder. He didn't move his feet he just bent backwards and sideways enough that the blow whiffed by his face and over the top of his shoulder.

Wufei snarled and tried a back handed return slap. Duo bent forwards and continued the forward bend into a roll. When his foot flashed out, he landed a solid blow to Wufei's belly. Wufei wheezed and sucked air.

Duo continued his roll into a standing position and whirled to face Wufei. Wufei managed to get in a blow of his own. Duo staggered back, wincing. Heero flinched too.

The fight continued with Duo using all ofhis considerable street fighting skills and Wufei his martial arts. It was a hard tie. Neither one could gain any advantage. By now Duo had a bloody nose and Wufei a seriously split lip.

Heero was twitching almost continuously and Zechs was trying to decide whether to cover his eyes or stop the fight. Heero clutched his shirt tail when he made up his mind.

"No. Don't interrupt. Neither of them will thank you for it. They . . . we work out like this all the time. Or at least we used to. Duo's . . . tough and he hates to be coddled. And Wufei . . . insult his abilities like that and he'll . . . your backside won't thank you I'll tell you that."

Zechs snarled. "He's getting hurt. I'd take any pain to save him so much as a stubbed toe."

But by the time they got themselves sorted out, someone else had called a halt to the fight. Several men were surrounding both young men not exactly holding them back but definitely making sure that they couldn't get to each other.

Duo grimaced. "What? You thinkeither one of us would really hurt the other? Better a bruise from a friend that a knife from an enemy. Right, Wufei?"

Wufei touched his lip with the back of his hand. He examined the blood for a second then snarled, "Right. Don't pull your punches."

The men and women fell back into formation and snapped to attention at a command from Wufei.

"Now you see what it's really like. Some of you won't make it past the next week. Some of you will. It depends on how eager you are to learn. Get it out of your heads that one form or style is better than another. One person is better than another. A martial artist with the right attitude will win out over a street fighter with the wrong one. And vice versa."

Zechs went to Wufei while Heero went to Duo. Neither one of them was hurt all that badly but both of them were bleeding.

Heero turned to the classes and eyed the combined group. "How you handle yourself is just as important as your skills. If you back off at the wrong time or attack too soon or too late the mission could fail. You'll all get a chance to fight one of us. Don't disappoint." He turned to Wufei. "Dismiss or work out."

Wufei glanced at Duo, Duo shrugged. "Work out." Wufei nodded, Zechs looked from Duo to Heero to Wufei. "Work out."

So they divided the classes back up and started drilling.

There was some grumbling but most of the recruits drilled with grim determination. They could see that they had some catching up if they wanted to be at the same levels as their instructors.

Each of the groups spent the rest of the afternoon in various exercises.

Then just before dismissal Duo hit a small snag.

"Excuse me. All this hand-to-hand is well and good. But what if your opponent has a weapon."

Duo sighed, he'd hoped that this wouldn't come up just yet, but he answered anyway. "Depends on how lucky you're feeling. And how good you are. Pull a gun on me, I'll find a way around it or let you shoot me and kill you while you're messing around trying to decide whether to kill me or not. Pull a knife and I'll cut your throat with it."

Heero overhearing this drifted over to Duo's group, pulling his own group with him.

Wufei signaled Zechs and they took their group to see what was up.

Duo shook his head. This was going to be dangerous. He wanted to have Heero and Zechs show their respective groups that they were just as good as Duo and Wufei had demonstrated they were. He was a bit worried about having Heero and Zechs in direct conflict with each other their history being what it was. But he had to do it so he sucked it up and motioned for them to take center mat.

Zechs smirked at Heero, "Pitch or catch?"

Heero smirked right back. "I always pitch."

Duo hid his eyes in the palm of one hand and groaned. He'd get Heero for that tonight, he was sure Wufei was planning something for Zechs too. The look in his eyes promised some interesting events in the future.

Zechs pulled a rubber knife from its slot on a rack and positioned himself. Heero settled into a defensive position and waited. He didn't have to wait long, but Zechs over extended himself almost immediately and wound up on his back with one arm twisted under him and his knife hand bent into an uncomfortable angle.

He twisted around and Heero had to let go or break his arm. Heero hesitated long enough to let everyone know he'd have broken it if not for the fact this was an exercise.

Zechs acknowledged the 'pin' with a grunt and kicked Heero in the head. Heero's head snapped back and he staggered. But he was stronger than anyone realized so he shook it off, much to Zechs's annoyance.

They jockeyed back and forth, until Heero made a mistake and Zechs got him down in a choke hold that would put him out. Heero clapped out and Zechs helped him to his feet.

There was some cheering from Zechs's group and a few groans from Heero's but most of the observers were silent. The whole fight had taken less that ten seconds. Ten seconds of such total concentration that neither man would have noticed anything less thananother threat to them.

Duo smirked at Wufei. "You'll be hearing about that for a while."

Wufei nodded. "But it's good for him. His self esteem is wrecked. Heero so obviously didn't let him win that it's a sure prop to his ego."

Duo nodded his understanding and went to congratulate Zechs on his win. Heero was going over the fight with Zechs blow by blow, analyzing exactly what had happened for the combined group. He ended by saying, ". . . so, you see. No matter how good you are, one mistake can be your downfall."

Zechs was standing slightly behind Heero, face flushed with a combination of embarrassment and pleasure.

A quick glance at the other's and Heero announced, "Classdismissed. Tomorrow we'll cover weapons so be ready people."

A trip to the showers was required by all the young men. Zechs sniffed the air.

"We better shower quick. There are laws about air pollution. 'Fei? You all right?"

Wufei was rubbing his stomach again. "I don't think Thai agrees with me. I've got indigestion again."

Zechs fished around in his locker for his duffel. When he found it, he produced a bottle of antacid. "Here. Chew two. They taste like chalk but they do work. If you don't feel better in an hour I'll give you some more. Come on. Shower."

Wufei obediently chewed up the tablets, making a face at the texture. They also didn't taste as minty as he'd expected. He hoped they helped his stomach.

The shower was a disaster for whoever had to clean up after them. They threw bars of soap at each other and towels snapped. The heat and steam did strange things to men who had never been boys. Duo spilled the bottle of shampoo he was trying to pour out of when Zechs accidentally smacked him in the face with a badly aimed wash cloth, he was aiming at Wufei. Heero managed to squash a semi-melted bar of soap into one of the drains by stepping on it. His extraordinary reflexes saved him from a fall, but not by much. Several of the recruits peeked into the shower to see if there was violence being done. The laughter convinced them to go way.

"Wufei?" Wufei pulled his hair back and held it out of his face. He gave Zechs an enquiring look. "Don't pull your hair back so hard. Remember?"

Wufei sighed and tossed his tie back into his kit. "I'll leave it down. I remember what you said. I think I'll start leaving it down when I'm not working. I feel . . . better? Different at any rate, when it's down. More relaxed. What do you think?"

Zechs considered for a second. "I like it down. It all depends on how tangled it will get."

"Not very. My hair doesn't tangle much. Too stiff or something. Come on. I'm hungry again but nothing spicy. I think I better let my stomach rest."

Zechs put his arm around Wufei's shoulders. "If you like we could go to that place at the mall. The one where you liked the rice?"

Wufei nodded. "Yes that would be good. The sashimi was excellent." He turned his head to call to Duo and Heero. "You guys coming or going somewhere else?"

Heero adjusted the short barrel jacket of his uniform. "We'll go. Duo?"

Duo admired Heero in his uniform for a second then shrugged. "I don't care. I can find something to eat there. I'm not eatin' fugu." He shuddered. "But I can have that shrimp thing, it was good. Don't forget. That last mail from Quatre said that we had to stop wandering around out of uniform. I don't get it but the judge cut us some serious slack so we better stick to the letter of the thing."

Zechs shrugged his jacket on and zipped it up half way to hide his shoulder harness. "I have to admit that the uniform thing is a little bit of a bother. But the jacket is cut just right to hide a side arm. But the color sucks."

Duo snickered helplessly while Zechs gave him a disgusted look. "What?"

"His Majesty, the Prince of Sanq saying sucks just cracks me up."

Zechs stuck his nose in the air with an exaggerated air of distain. "See here, you pheasant. I'll have you know I'm only a highness."

Duo stuck out his tongue while Heero groaned dramatically. "I'm no bird. And as to high . . . why highness?"

"Because I'm not majestic." They all laughed outrageously at this. "Are you coming, Mausi?"

Duo snickered. "Yeah Mickey, are you coming?"

Zechs turned his head "Excuse me? Why are you calling Wufei Mickey?"

Duo poked Wufei, who smacked irritably at his hand. "Mausi. Mouse? MickeyMouse?"

Zechs gave Wufei a horrified look. "Not that kind of mouse. Mausi. And I probably shouldn't call you that. It's more for a girl. I'm sorry."

Wufei shrugged. "I'll take all the affection I can get. If you like calling me Mausi, who am I to complain. Just . . . anyone who teases me, outside of this group, is going to lose something they're attached to."

Duo grimaced. "Hey! Look, I didn't mean to start a thing."

Wufei shook his head. "It's not a thing unless you think it is. I personally don't. Zechs, don't look so worried. I think it's cute that you didn't think about that. Come on. Feed me"

The mall wasn't crowded at this time of day so they swept through the open center shoulder to shoulder. Four striking young men in WEI uniforms attracted the attention of almost everyone in their area.

When they entered the restaurant, they were seated at once. The waitress who took their orders was blatantly disappointed when they ignored her overtures. Zechs held Wufei's hand on top of the table and Duo nearly sat in Heero's lap. They all flirted happily.

Heero sighed, "This is nice. I miss the simple things. Sitting in a restaurant with friends. Some stuff you wouldn't think I miss because I never got to do it. But . . ."

Duo interrupted. "But 'Ro, humans are social animals. We instinctivelyneed certain things. We miss them even if we've never had them."

Zechs nodded. "He's right. And this is really nice. Wufei?"

Wufei stretched carefully. "I'm tired. In a good way. It was good to teach. I was a senior student by the age of twelve. I miss things too, you know."

The waitress returned with their tea and glasses of water. As she set them down, she eyed them.

Duo finally had to say something. "You got a problem?"

"Yeah. All the good guys are either taken or gay. I just broke up with my current guy. Now he wants to cause trouble. He's coming here to see about collecting for a debt he says I owe him. So I ran up the cell a little? What's that all about?"

Duo backed down, obviously the girl had problems of her own. "So how much did you run it up?"

She shrugged negligently. "Four hundred euros."

Zechs choked back a snicker, Wufei blinked and Heero snorted inelegantly. Duo just groaned, "Ooh, man." The waitress sauntered away. Leaving them all to pour tea and go back to their discussion.

They discussed their respective groups and came to the conclusion that they might manage to lose only half of them. Zechs commented that he had regularly lost at least 90 of his trainees. Heero shuddered. Wufei patted his hand, and incidentally Duo's in sympathy.

Duo groaned. "90? That's not good."

"We made a very elite group. Men strong enough to handle a mobile suit, mentally as well as physically, or to deal with black ops are few and far between. Wannabes are every where. You have to weed out the corruptible, inept and generally unsuitable quickly. The cost in training time can be incredible. We washed out people quickly because there was a war on and we couldn't afford to waste the time and resources.

"Now we have more time and can take it easier. We'll keep more men because we can coddle them more. I do like the idea of that. Moo shu?"

Heero nodded. "Yeah. Moo shuis good. You like Happy Family?"

Duo smacked his lips. "How 'bout Five Treasures?"

Wufei pinched Zechs under the table to get his attention. "I think Sweet and Sour Tofu and Eggplant . . ."

Duo made strangling noises. Everyone else laughed.

They settled on Happy Family, Five Treasures, an assortment of steamed buns and Shrimp fried rice as well as the usual complement of pickles and plain rice.

After placing their order they settled to more discussion, this time of Relena.

Heero frowned his disapproval as Zechs told him that she was determined to complete her tour of educational and penal facilities on Earth. He didn't like it and he couldn't say why. Her security was supposedly the best in ESUN, provided by Preventers.

They all grumbled about it but finally decided that there wasn't much they could do about it.

"Except stick your head between your legs and kiss your ass good-by. Heero don't hog the Treasures, man." Duo got the last word because the waitress delivered the food.

They argued genially about who was getting the best or the most. Heero accused Duo of picking out the lobster from Treasures and Wufei firmly told Zechs that he had to eat vegetables and not just the meats from Happy Family. Zechs was just as firm with Wufei that he couldn't just eat the vegetables. Duo just stuffed himself, until Heero took the serving dishes and put them out of his reach.

Zechs looked up sharply and admonished Heero. "What's that? Give those back. If he wants more, we'll just order another dish."

Duo flushed rather heavily and pushed back from the table. "Nah, that's ok. I'm fine."

Zechs started to say something but Wufei patted his hand, saying, "Not now, love. I'll explain later." in a voice that told Zechs he'd put his foot in it somehow.

Duo shrugged and sighed, "Don't sweat it. I'm just an L2 street rat with all the problems that come with it. I'll eat until I'm sick. As long as something I really like is available, I'll nibble on it."

Zechs stiffened then slumped. "I'm sorry. I . . . didn't . . ." Wufei patted his thigh.

"Stop. You meant well."

Duo changed the subject to save Zechs further embarrassment making Wufei give him a pleased look.

"Hey, I almost forgot. Here." Duo pulled a seven inch long brass tube from a pocket and handed it to Heero. "I've been carrying this around in my pocket all day waiting for the right time to give it to you."

Heero took the tube and realized that it was a collapsible whistle. He examined it carefully, checking out all its features. Duo took it from him and pulled it out to its full length.

"It's just a simple slip joint with index marks so you don't have to tune it. Self tuning. Took me a week to figure out exactly where to put the marks nearly drove me nuts. And sneaking out to work on it? You're a light sleeper babe."

Heero put the whistle to his lips and blew gently. The whistle was sweet and true, in perfect tune.

"Great. Sweet, true, in tune. Just like our love." Heero gave Duo a loving look, which he returned with interest.

Wufei and Zechs looked on, holding hands.


	34. A Bomb Made In Heaven

The Price They Paid: chapter 34

A Bomb Made in Heaven

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Duo grumbled, he just knew this was going to be a bad idea. He was supposed to lecture. He Duo Maxwell was giving a lecture. Granted it was on bombs, but still. And Wufei wasn't helping any at all. Every time he looked at Duo he started snickering, although he would swear he wasn't. Duo knew a snicker when he heard one.

But he had a job to do and he intended to do it right. So, lecture time. Duo sighed and opened the door to the stage. He walked across the stage to the podium and stood behind it, which, he decided, looked pretty silly. He was barely tall enough to see over it.

An aid hurried to lower it, but Duo snorted and said, "Forget it. I'm so not good at formal. Instead, why don't you just take the damn thing away entirely?"

The aid fiddled with something in the unit then wheeled it to the side of the stage.

"Well, that's better . . . um . . . I do need the mic. Ok?" the aid handed Duo the microphone and scurried off the stage. Duo watched him for a second then pulled his attention back to his lecture.

"Ok, here it is. I'm supposed to give a lecture on bombs but no one told me until about thirty minutes ago. Really well organized around here, ya know? So, instead of boring you all with a bunch of stuff you should know already I'm just going to open the floor to questions. If anyone finds out that they don't know something just go ahead and either ask your next door neighbor or me. We'll work all this out somehow or other."

A hand went up almost at once. When Duo pointed at the man, he stood up and told everyone his name.

"Hi, there, Frank. What's your question?"

"Um . . . is it really possible to make a bomb out of farm chemicals? I hear about that one from time to time but . . . and how stable is it?"

Duo shrugged. "That one's as old as fossil fuels. You could make a bomb out of fertilizer and old-fashioned diesel fuel. You can't do it anymore because bio-diesel won't work. As to the stability of the final product, not real. You could blow yourself up pretty easily. That all?"

The man nodded and sat down. Another hand went up almost at once.

"Adam, sir. Is it possible to make a bomb out of kitchen chemicals?"

Duo sighed, he hadn't known he was going to get all the old chestnuts.

"Ok, people. Listen up. You can make a bomb out of kitchen chemicals, but I don't recommend it. It'll blow your face off if you fuck up. And you can distill nitro, if you have to. I've done it my self. But I don't recommend it. You have to do everything exactly right. If you mess up, it'll either blow up prematurely or not at all. It's simple, but not easy. Home made explosives are very dicey. And bomb making is a real good way to commit suicide. That said; we still have to deal with the fact that some idiot is making a bomb right now. What I'm supposed to be teaching you all is how to deal with the results. Cross jurisdictionalsensitivities have made bomb disposal a real problem. So we get hired to do the job." Duo rubbed his face. "I'd really like to see you all live to have grandchildren. So, enough with the urban myths and on to practicalities. Now, questions?"

Duo was more than a little startled to realize that everyone was taking notes. Heero, sitting in the last row was grinning like a fool. Duo grinned back and waited for everyone to finish writing.

"Now. I seem to remember the old Red, Yellow, Blue myth is still making rounds. That's really a 'thing'. Most bomb makers are using whatever they can scrounge. I made one bomb with all yellow wire, because that was all I had. And telephone wire won't work. You need a bigger gage than that or your pulse might not be strong enough. Questions?"

The entire hour was taken up by questions and comments inspired by them or whatever popped into Duo's head. Everyone took notes which made Duo feel really strange. It also made him feel good.

After the hour was over Duo called a halt to questions and told the recruits that next was a 'practicum'. Duo wasn't sure what the word meant but he wasn't about to ask. He'd find out soon enough.

Duo met Heero in the hall and put one arm around him.

"What's next? We have classes all day today and tomorrow." Duo shivered suddenly. "Brrrr! Goose walked on my grave."

Heero pulled Duo into his chest and rubbed his goose-bumped arms. "Why do you say that? It's creepy. What's wrong?"

"Sister used to say that when she got a phantom chill. I don't know what's wrong, but something is. I don't like it. Cuddles, please."

Heero obligingly cuddled Duo until the bumps went away.

After Duo stopped shivering and Heero stopped fussing they went to their new offices and checked with the secretary to see what they were supposed to be doing next. Heero had some reservations about what Quatre was doing but he was going along with it because he felt that Quatre had a better handle on what was good for all of them. When he thought about what could have happened to them he was grateful that Quatre had found it possible to use his money and influence to help them as much as he had. He just hoped it was enough. The public could be so fickle, as they'd found out before. When he found out that he was up this afternoon for a bound combat demonstration, which was laughingly referred to as combative prisoner transport training. He just sighed, this was going to be very interesting.

After some consultation with Zechs and Wufei, Heero decided what he was going to do. He didn't bother to consult much with Duo, he knew that Duo would tell him to 'let 'er rip'. He couldn't help but smile a little, he'd contained himself for months while in prison. This was going to be interesting, more than that, it was going to be fun.

Heero walked into the dojo and looked at the gathered men and women. They were all larger than he was by at least four inches and twenty pounds. He smirked at Duo, who was standing at the back of the group. He also saw Zechs and Wufei standing behind Duo.

"Good afternoon. . . ." Heero looked around. "Please bow to the instructor." Everybody bowed to Heero who bowed back. "Thank you. I intend to run the class along the lines of a formal martial arts class. Be warned that whatever you think you know is either wrong or doesn't apply to me. So . . . Who wants to be first?"

A man stepped forward. "I don't particularly want to go first but I'd like to know the reasons behind this class. You take your prisoner and transport them."

Heero sighed softly. "That's the point of this class. Your objective is to get me from here . . ." Heero pointed to his feet. "To there." He pointed to the other end of the room. "Without killing me or having me kill you. And I guarantee you it isn't as easy as it sounds. Some of you might have a chance in hell. Others aren't even going to get the transports on me." Heero looked around at the class. "Rules: One. You can't hit me unless I hit first. Two. You have to get the transport shackles on me first. Three, you have to get me from here to there. I don't care if you decide to carry me. Ok? Who's first?"

There was some shuffling of feet and muttering. Then two men stepped forward. Both men were very large and powerful. Heero heard a soft gasp and knew that Duo was having trouble. He couldn't break his concentration but he gave him a quick reassuring glance and was glad to see Zechs had an arm around both Duo and Wufei. He turned his attention back to business with a short nod to Zechs.

The two men made the mistake of thinking their greater size and apparent greater strength made a difference.

As one man tried to disentangle the chains the other made a grab for Heero. Heero dodged easily and back peddled into the other man. He flailed wildly accidentally lashing out with the handful of chains he held. He hit Heero across the back with it. It wasn't much of a blow but Heero called a halt to the exercise and faced the group.

"Can anyone tell me what they did wrong?" Duo waved his hand from the back of the group. "Not you. Someone else." A few people snickered. "Anyone?" Heero gritted his teeth. "Oh, please."

One woman held up a hesitant hand. "Um . . . they didn't get the chains ready before trying to . . . no?" Heero was slowly shaking his head.

"I'll give you sometime to think about it." Heero walked over to Duo and put his arms around him, resting his head on Duo's shoulder he grumbled. "Help. They're probably hopeless. I wanna go home." Heero put an exaggerated whine in his voice.

Duo patted Heero's shoulder. "Sorry. I can't go and neither can you. I'll admit that I'm a little shaky. All these big guys are pushing all the wrong buttons. And . . . " Duo turned to Wufei who was just leaning against Zechs just a little too casually." I don't think 'Fei is any happier."

Wufei shrugged. "I'm not that happy either. I know that these guys aren't going to hurt me but I still feel crowded. And that smell is triggering all the wrong things." Wufei motioned to a spot on the just mopped floor that was still wet and smelling strongly of disinfectant.

Zechs took Wufei firmly by the shoulder. "We'll leave in a little while, my little dragon. But you should stay as long as you can. Duo, you too."

Duo and Wufei both nodded, but neither of them looked very happy. Heero gave Zechs a level look then went back to his trainees. He didn't look any happier than Wufei or Duo, but for a different reason.

"Anyone figure out what went wrong?" Heads shook all around the group. "Very well. I said, and I quote. No hitting me. For any reason with anything. Accidentally or on purpose. I won't have a bruise. . . I don't bruise very easily, but any other prisoner would have a mark. A mark that could breach the contract, beside being bad form, so . . . next?"

The next group got the chains ready before hand, then couldn't get them on Heero. He didn't fight them exactly, all he did was refuse to put his hands close enough together to get the chains on him. They finally gave up with disgusted expressions on their faces.

Heero allowed the next group to chain him but wouldn't walk for them. When one of the men tried to pick him up, he wriggled out of the man's grasp like an eel and fell to the floor with a solid thump. He disqualified them with a snort.

"If you decide to carry your prisoner, you can't drop him. Marks. So, anyone else?" Heero stood up and looked around. Heads shook all over the group, they knew when they were whipped. He sighed.

"Ok, suppose your man has already been restrained. All you have to do is keep him under control. Anyone?"

Four men volunteered, Heero's eyes glowed for a second. "If you insist. But this time you have a fighter on your hands, and you still can't hit me. Ready. Set. Fight."

Heero waited until one of the men grabbed him, then he leaned into the pull and walked right over the man. Then he used him as a weapon. He grasped the man by one arm and wheeled on his heels, dragging the man into one of the others. The next two men Heero kicked. He dropped to his hands and kicked out backwards with his feet spread. Using the chain between his ankles as a weapon, he caught one man in the chest with a foot and the chain got the other across the throat. They both went down coughing and choking.

The gasps from the group of people were loud enough that they almost distracted Heero too early, he flicked his eyes to see what was going on in the group. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he returned his attention his opponents. Just in time to see the first two regroup and start for him. He watched them carefully but didn't see any signs that they'd lost control of themselves and gotten mad.

Heero waited for the men to do something. He dodged the grab from one side and ducked as the man on the other side made his move. That put the men grabbing each other. Heero couldn't help a soft snicker. He watched as the men disentangled themselves again. Then he called a halt to the exercise.

"Ok, that's enough. Anyone have any last thoughts before I end the class?"

Heero didn't bother trying to find the voice. "What now? I mean, you're still in chains. What do you do now?"

Heero shrugged. "If I was a normal prisoner, I'd find a cutting tool of some sort and get these off. But as I'm me . . ." Heero stepped wide and threw his arms wide too. The chains broke with pathetic twangs. He strolled casually towards Duo chains dangling from his wrists, leg irons jangling on the floor.

Duo greeted him with a snicker and "Need some help with that, lover?"

Heero grunted and smirked at Duo. Duo fished in his braid for a lock pick and knelt to open the cuffs around Heero's ankles. As he knelt, Heero fished another pick out of his hair and started on the cuffs around his wrists. The class just eyed them with amazed respect and not a little awe.

Zechs cornered Heero in the office the next day and got answers to his questions without argument. He rubbed his chin while he thought. Then he told Heero he needed to make some arrangements.

"If you make it worse, I won't be best pleased with you."

"Don't worry. I'm very good at this. I was trained carefully and I seem to have an aptitude for it as well. Someone has been after me for months to do a job for them. I don't work anymore, but I'll do this for love. You laugh and I'll smack you."

Heero smirked instead. "I think you've been dodging calls from Quatre without knowing it. Have you been getting calls from Bloom Enterprises?"

Zechs nodded. "Yeah, they won't go away . . . do you mean Quatre has been using a dummy corporation to try to get me to work on someone?"

Heero nodded. "Duo and Wufei both have problems. Duo can't be around big men without a safety and Wufei has a real problem with that institutional smell. They both need help." Zechs nodded and got a far away look in his eyes. "Zechs? Zechs? Hey! Come back."

Zechs focused on Heero sharply. "Yes? . . . Oh, do I need to make plans for you as well?"

Heero shook his head. "No I got a lot of help at the juvenile facility. Really good help too. Can you help them? No bull. I need to know."

"I can help. Really. No bull. I wouldn't . . . do you have any reports?" Heero fished around in his ever present briefcase. And handed Zechs a handful of papers. "Here. This should tell you everything you need to know. And I have more files on my computer if you need them. All you have to do is ask. And stay out of that briefcase. It's booby trapped. "

Zechs held up his hands in a 'wouldn't dream of it' gesture then settled down to read.

What he read bothered him a little, in that the problem was easy to cure with a little effort. Especially if the subject was willing and cooperative. Which he knew that Duo and Wufei both were. He'd thought that Dr. Terry was taking care of the problem, but evidently he didn't feel qualified.

"Wufei? You in here?" Zechs opened the door to the room he'd had prepared. He knew Wufei would be in there. He'd asked Wufei to meet him after all.

"H-h-h-here. Zechs . . . I have to leave. . . I can't be here." Wufei was hugging himself and shivering hard. "We have to go. Please."

Zechs gathered Wufei into his arms and cuddled him. "We need to stay. You don't like the smell?"

"No. Can't stand it. It's nauseating. Please. We need to leave."

Zechs pulled Wufei to a couch and sat down with him in his lap. Wufei didn't resist, even though Zechs could tell he wanted to.

"What is it about that smell? Can you tell me?"

"Smells like . . . like a . . . prison. . . I can't . . . can we leave, please?"

"No my love, not yet. What prison? When were you in prison?"

Wufei burrowed into Zechs's shoulder. "Not me. Duo . . . I found him . . . the Alliance had gotten him. He wasn't there long, but they'd drenched him in that disinfectant that they use. Gotten it in his hair, all over his clothing and in his eyes. He was blinded by it. It didn't last long and he wasn't that upset, but . . . oh, Zechs what if . . . if he hadn't recovered. His eyes . . . His beautiful eyes . . . They were clouded . . . Milky . . . Damn . . . I don't like to think of it. Please, I need to be out of here."

Zechs held Wufei gently but firmly. "You need to stay. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I won't let it. But if you don't get over this you'll have trouble at a time when we can least afford it. Do you understand?"

Wufei drew in a deep shuddering breath. "Yes, I understand. I've tried to meditate my way out of this trap. I've failed. I don't know what to do. We tried to find someone to help but he won't return our calls . . ."

Zechs interrupted Wufei. "I'm sorry about that. I'm not qualified, at least not on paper. And in prison, I didn't feel like I could do anything for anyone. But I'll help you, for my heart's sake. You can spank me later. Yes?"

Wufei snorted softy. "You'll enjoy that way too much. Pervert."

"Yes, but I'm your pervert."

Wufei closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. He jerked back. "You've soaked yourself in that shit."

Zechs shook his head. "No. Just my handkerchief. Open your mouth."

Wufei did so and found a small spoon slipped between his lips. It was dipped in honey, one of his favorite sweets. He sucked the sticky stuff off the spoon with a small sound of pleasure. Zechs kissed him to share the flavor.

"Nice?"

"Um-hum. Very."

Zechs continued to kiss Wufei, every time he started to react to the smell again he distracted him with something pleasant. A kiss, a taste of honey, some tea, anything to distract him from the smell. But he never removed the smell, in fact he made it stronger. There was a small device on the table next to them which sprayed the stuff every few seconds in timed decreases until it was spraying every five seconds. The smell was finally beginning to make Zechs's eyes water.

"Wufei? What do you smell?"

Wufei sniffed gently. "Your aftershave . . . sniff peaches . . . sniff starch. . . sniff tea." Wufei trailed off sniffing again

"Anything else?" Zechs pushed Wufei away from his chest and waited, hoping.

"No." Wufei pushed his hair out of his eyes in an irritable gesture. "Nothing else . . . should I?"

Zechs maneuvered Wufei so he could see the device just as it emitted a mist of disinfectant.

"Zechs . . . god, it stinks in here. It's awful. Come on. You need to get out of here before you throw up." Wufei jumped up and dragged Zechs out of the room, scolding him like a fish wife.

In the hall he turned to look up at Zechs. "There now. You've made your eyes water something fierce." Zechs fumbled in his pocket for a handkerchief that wasn't saturated with the stinking disinfectant. He found Wufei's white silk one pressed into his hand instead.

"Are you all right? Do you feel sick? Or faint? Or. . ." Wufei interrupted Zechs with a sharp snort of amusement.

I'm not some fainting onna. I'm not sure what you did, but thank you. I don't remember a time that I've been tricked quite so neatly. Quite a trick."

Zechs smiled into obsidian orbs. "I couldn't stand the idea of you being . . . disturbed by a smell. I . . . it . . . well."

Wufei cut Zechs off before he stammered himself into incoherency. "I'll forgive your prevarication this time. I have known for a while that disinfectant was a problem for me. I don't believe it was that easy to cure. Amazing."

Zechs smiled down at Wufei gently, "It was easy because you're strong. You have a sound mind and don't coddle yourself. Now . . . we have to figure out how to cure Duo. He needs to be able to be in a room of large loud men without freaking out. He's going to be around men like that as long as he works. So . . ." Zechs hugged Wufei. "Shall we put our heads together?" Wufei smirked at him and Zechs laughed. "Kiss later, plot now."

Wufei nodded and guided his lover into their offices. "Wait here. I'm going to get Heero. There's no sense in trying to plan something without him. I'll have a tea tray brought."

"How are we going to keep Duo out? He'll wonder why he's not included."

Wufei put one index finger by his nose, looking wise. "He's been having Binky brought by. The poor thing misses his company, so he's been brushing her and playing with her just about now. He'll be busy for an hour. I best get going so we'll have time."

Wufei hurried out and Zechs quickly cleared the conference table of its burden of empty cups and other detritus left over from break. When Wufei came back, the table was clean and all the mess was neatly in the nearby trash can.

Wufei placed the tea tray on the table and settled at the left of Zechs, this left the right-hand seat for Heero, who had followed him in.

Heero looked from Zechs to Wufei and put his foot down. "I won't do anything to hurt Duo. I don't know what you're planning but I hope you know what you're doing."

Zechs held up a hand and smiled at Heero. "I won't hurt Duo. You know that. I want to help him just like I helped Wufei. His files are incomplete. So. . . information. I need a lot of it. So start talking."

Heero eyed Zechs, gave a jerky nod and started talking.

Duo entered the room carrying Binky who immediately jumped from his arms and headed for Wufei. Wufei picked up the little dog and patted her head.

"And how are you, pretty lady?" Wufei turned to Duo. "She looks good. Coat is good. Eyes clear. No stains. You're doing very well with her."

Duo smiled happily. "Thanks. She does look good, doesn't she? But she's not real obedient. I mean, she seems like she tries, but I'm . . . well, I'm not sure she understands what I want. I need training just as much as she does." Duo managed to look both proud and depressed.

Zechs shrugged. "Why don't you take her to see the resident trainer. We've got working dogs here. You know. Drug dogs and cadaver dogs, I think there's some bomb dogs, too. Wufei, do you know if there are any attack or guard dogs on the premises?"

Wufei shrugged. "No, I don't. Why don't we go down to the training area and see? I'll be glad for the walk."

Zechs nodded and stood up. "Me too. I believe the dog training area is behind the warehouse where Sheila is kept. Come on."

They all walked to the training area, or rather jogged. After all it was only half a mile. Zechs called the time in a deep voice that made heads turn.

Duo took pity on poor Binky and had her brought by car.

When they all got to the training area, Duo was astonished to see that there were at least twenty dogs in the compound. Each dog had a trainer and each group of five had a man overseeing the training. They called commands to the group, watched each dog and trainer to see if they needed help or instruction and just generally kept an eye on things.

Zechs ledthe group over to one of the head trainers and spoke to him while Duo claimed Binky from the driver who'd brought her down. He thanked the man and asked if she'd been a good girl. Binky tried to lick his face so he patted her to make her stop. The driver grinned at him and allowed that she had been fairly good, the only problem was she'd distracted him a little trying to lick him. Duo sighed. "I've got to break her of that somehow. Not that I mind a little dog slobber but she shouldn't do that. Thanks." Duo took the little girl and carried her over to the group.

The head trainer had listened as Zechs talked and at first had refused to do what he asked, but when Zechs explained that Duo was in real trouble, he said they'd try. So Zechs gathered the group of men together and quickly explained what he needed them to do, which was crowd Duo just a little.

Duo brought Binky over to the group a little hesitantly, he was worried about the other dogs. The other dogs just sat by their trainers eyeing the new people with interest. Duo wondered what the men would make of a Gundam Pilot having a dog like Binky.

It seemed that they didn't think it was anything unusual. One man remarked. "I wish my wife would let me have a lap dog. She's worried about the mess. She doesn't even like Rex in the house, but he's in anyway. Cute little thing. But she's a real licker. Need to do something about that."

Duo nodded. "That's one of the things I'm here for. She needs more training than I know how to give her and the man who takes care of her during the day doesn't know more than enough to keep up what she does know. She's a good girl, wants to please, so it's my fault."

Duo didn't even notice that all the men in the group had gathered around him petting the little dog and crowding him. All he could see was his dog and her needs.

The head trainer called the group to order. "Gentlemen, attend your dogs. Mr. Maxwell, that means to put her down and pick up her lead. We'll work on heel first. Walk, please."

Duo was astonished to see that the man didn't bark orders at everyone. He wondered at that. The head trainer suddenly appeared at his side making him flinch slightly. Binky darted to the other side of him, breaking training.

"One, I don't yell. It's not good for the dogs. Yelling doesn't tell the dog anything except that you're angry. Getting angry doesn't do any good. The dogs want to please. So . . . and don't jump like that. I'm not going to hurt the dog. Flinching that way made her break training, now you have to discipline her. Pull her gently back in to position and say 'Phooey' in a strong voice. That will tell her that she did something she shouldn't. I don't approve of saying 'bad' when they break training for something that startled them or distracted them. Now. Get your dog back in heel please."

Duo got Binky back in position and told her 'phooey' she returned to her place with a rather shamefaced look.

They continued around the circle for several minutes, each dog and trainer getting a refresher and closing in on Duo slowly. Duo didn't notice, he was too busy making sure that Binky did what she was supposed to do. Binky was ecstatic at all the attention and did a good job of being good.

"Excellent work, gentlemen. Now we'll try 'sit'. I want each of you to 'sit' your dog and hold position. I'll come around and check yourform. Sit, now."

At the command 'sit' all the dogs sat at their masters'heel and settled in, except for Binky. She didn't seem to know exactly what she was supposed to do. She sat, but she scurried around to face Duo. He didn't have a clue in the world how to get her to sit at heel. He tried moving around so that Binky was at heel. But that put him out of line with the rest of the men. She moved to face him. He picked her up and put her were she was supposed to be and she returned to what she thought was her proper place. The head trainer stopped Duo from trying to get her in position.

"Don't. She's been trained that that is the proper 'sit' position. You'll just confuse her. Try telling her, heel, then sit. Some dogs are trained that way."

So Duo told Binky to heel then immediately told her sit. She sat at his heel with her head cocked to one side. Duo immediately praised her telling her 'good girl' which made her break position. Duo sighed and looked at the head trainer. "She always does that. I don't know what to do."

"Tell her 'phooey' and put her back in position. Work on that for a while. Just keep putting her back in position with a reprimand until she'll hold the position while you pat her and praise her. It might take several sessions to really get it right. And don't let her get bored. I'll have the rest of the group work around you. The distraction should make her break position several times. That'll give you the opportunity to correct her." the trainer turned to the group and started an advanced exercise that kept the men circling Duo and Binky.

Duo worked with Binky for several minutes. Binky quickly got the idea of what Duo wanted and sat at heel nicely within fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes in which Duo was surrounded by very large men.

When he noticed he jerked on Binky's lead making the poor dog yelp. He immediately turned to pick her up and make amends. The head trainer came over to see what had happened, as well as most of the group.

"What happened? Did you step on her?"

Duo shook his head. "No, I just got startled and jerked on her lead. I . . . have trouble with groups of large men. I just realized . . . um . . . could you guys back off just a little . . . I feel a little crowded here."

"Sure. Gentlemen, at ease, please." All the men formed a line and assumed the at ease position, dogs at heel. "Thank you. Well, Mr. Maxwell, Binky is coming along very well. I'll put you both through the rest of the positions. Sit/stay, down, come, and so on. You can remember what to do. And you should spend at least an hour a day on her. That licking will become a problem sooner or later. To cure that, just don't allow her to do it. At all." Seeing the expression on Duo's face, the man sighed. "I know. But it's pack behavior that you shouldn't encourage. Every time she does it, just put her down and say 'phooey' to her. She'll get the idea very quickly. Every time you pick her up and she doesn't lick, give her a treat. You should keep treats in your pocket for her. Now. I need to finish this session and you should take her and give her some water. She's beginning to pant. That's a sign that she's tired. Dog's out of shape."

Duo nodded. "Thanks. I'll be back tomorrow, if that's ok. I need to work on things with you a little more. And I'll tell her walker that she's out of shape. He'll know to take her farther." Duo turned to the group of men who faced him with slight smiles. "Thank you for letting me join you today. I'm sorry I'm such a butt." Duo turned to leave, never seeing several of the men frowning. After he left, the general consensus was that he sure didn't look like what they would have thought a Gundam pilot should.

Zechs took a moment to address the men while Wufei and Heero headed Duo back to the offices.

"Gentlemen, thank you for your cooperation. It doesn't seem like much, but we've made a great advance. Duo has never not noticed so many large men around him before. I hope you understand how much help you've been today."

One of the handlers held up his hand. "Yes?"

"Sorry. I'm not trying to be critical but why does he think he's being a 'butt'"

Zechs rubbed his cheek for a moment trying to decide how to phrase his answer. "Because the last time he was surrounded by this many large men, he wound up under a table with a gun in his hand. He can't stand being crowded. He managed to ask you to back off instead of going into attack mode. Great advance but he feels bad about having to ask you to back off. We've made great strides in less than an hour. Again, I thank you."

There was some foot shuffling and grumbling, then another man held up his hand. Zechs nodded at him.

"Why does he dislike crowds of large men?"

Zechs just looked at the line of men for a moment. "You don't want to know. Believe me . . . dismiss!"

Zechs turned away before he had to answer any more uncomfortable questions, leaving the men to make their own conclusions, which were unpleasant to say the least. Gossip started to spread again.

Wufei needed to go to the men's room, but when he started to enter the janitor stopped him, saying, "Be really careful. I just mopped the floor so it's still wet. And I spilled the cleaning compound so it's really strong."

Wufei just nodded his understanding and entered anyway. The smell _was_ strong. Wufei sneezed several times. The smell was so strong that it was making his eyes water. Suddenly Wufei realized that it was the smell that usually triggered his panic reaction. Only he wasn't panicked, just disgusted at the strength of the smell. He shuddered once and leaned against the wall. Putting both hands over his face, he started to cry. The janitor, hearing him, went for help.

Zechs hurried into the room and grabbed Wufei, scooping him up into strong, loving arms Zechs carried him out into the hall.

"Mausi, . . I mean. 'Fei. What is it? Please. Let me help you."

Wufei snuggled into Zechs and sighed. "Sorry. I know I'm being an idiot, but . . . I wasn't scared. It just stank. I . . . damn. Crying like an onna. What must you think of me?"

Zechs held Wufei against his chest, snuggling against him. "I think that you have just realized that you are better. Something that had interfered with your life to a considerable extent has been cured. You have a right to feel how ever you feel."

Wufei sniffled softly. "But weeping like a foo . . ."

Zechs interrupted him. "A weak man refuses to recognize his feelings. A strong man weeps and makes no excuse. I love you, Chang Wufei. A few tears of relief and happiness won't change that . . . hanky?"

Wufei accepted the offered item and defiantly blew his nose. "Well, I hope you have as good luck with Duo. He's worse that me. Here."

Zechs looked at the soggy cloth. "I think you could keep that."

Duo grumbled, it had been several days since the first visit to the dog compound, Binky was learning so quickly that he was sure he'd have to stop his visits soon. He was enjoying them a great deal and hated to think he would soon have no excuse to return.

All the men gave him room, but he had to ask several times for them to back off. They did tend to get too close, not that it really bothered him anymore, but he was afraid they'd step on Binky by mistake. He'd thought that they would make fun of him for having such a sissy dog but it seemed that dog people were dog people no matter what kind. All the men had either Dobermans or German Shephards but they all gave Binky more respect than he expected.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Today we are going to work on agility. Mr. Maxwell, since you've never done this, I'm going to put you last so you can see what we're doing. I think you'll be surprised at how good Binky will be at this. A Maltese is a very good agility dog. Small, light, and very flexible. So . . ."

Duo set himself at the end of the line, so that he could see everything without being in the way. Binky sat nicely to heel with an interested expression.

Duo was astonished to see that all the dogs were expected to run a sort of doggy gauntlet. The obstacles included hoops to jump through, a sharply angled board they had to climb, a sort of tight rope made of planks and a series of upright poles that they had to pass on alternate sides. He wondered how he was expected to get Binky to understand what he wanted.

The first man brought out his dog and started. The man went through the course himself leading his dog. The dog obediently went through all the obstacles at request, except for the tunnel made of hoops and canvas. He refused, trying to go around it. The trainer tried again but the dog refused again. He seemed not to understand that he had to go through, not simply get to the other end.

The man ahead of Duo in the line sighed. "Stubborn, ain't he. That dog inni' going to go through that tunnel if he can get out of it."

"Um . . . I hate to sound ignorant but why not let him go. He seems to be afraid of it."

The handler turned around and stuck out his hand, Duo couldn't help but notice that he was at least 6'3". "Joe. That tunnel represents a drain. Like under a road? So the dog has to go through it. Not over the road, where he could get hit by a car or something. And if he's chasing a perp. We want him to stay on the subject. Sometimes the conduit will split under the road. If the guy doesn't come out where we expect him to, the dog needs to be on his tail still."

Duo shivered, he remembered running from dogs several times. He had respected the dog and feared the master.

"I see. Well. . ." Joe eyed him wondering why he'd shivered. "I remember wondering how the hell I was going to get dogs off my tail. Only thing that ever worked was rolling in garbage, or in one case, swamp mud."

"God. I'd hate to be on the running end of a hunt. I . . . I don't mean to be rude. But who the hell decided it was a good idea to put a kid like you, or Yuy, or any of you in a damn Gundam?"

Duo gave the man a sharp look, but decided he was honestly wanting to know. "A bunch of crazy scientists. They thought that getting us young would make it easier to control us. Didn't work. Something in us that made us good pilots . . . um . . .gave us brains enough to see what was really going on. Don't ask me to explain it, I don't understand it myself. I just know that we did what we thought was right, despite orders. Right is right, no matter what. So . . ."

Joe just shook his head. "Jesus. I wish my kid was half as smart as you. Oh, you're up. Skipped me for some reason." The man gave his dog a pat. "Probably because Castor is the best at agility in the group."

Duo stepped up and the head trainer gave him instruction. He ran Binky through the course slowly, showing her just what was expected of her. She didn't hesitate at the hoops, or the tunnel, but she wasn't too sure about the 'ladder' or the parallel planks. She tried and Duo had to catch her as she fell from the tight rope like planks. The head trainer told Duo to praise her then have her try again. This time she succeeded so Duo gave her some treats. He noticed that all the men were gathered rather closely around him. It gave him a startle but he managed to control it. The men backed off without him having to ask.

They all worked their dogs for another thirty minutes or so. The head trainer called 'praise your dogs.' Then had them all gather around for a critique.

"Good work, men. Starting with Maxwell, as he has a bomb training session in about forty-five minutes. Mr. Maxwell, your dog has heart. You need to ask her to give more. She'll give it. She may be small but she's a goer. Don't dismiss her courage because she's small. How do you feel when someone dismisses your abilities because you're smaller than average?" Duo made a face. "Exactly. You're both doing very well. I'd advise getting into a junior show class. She'll never be top quality. She's been shaved. But she'll do well to have the training. We're going on to training that's not suitable for her. Simply because she doesn't have the size. Now." The head trainer looked at his watch. "You better get going. She'll need water and a cool off before you head for the class. . . . Can I ask you a question?"

Duo shrugged. "Sure. You can ask anything, I just don't guarantee to answer. Shoot."

"What are you doing in a bomb disposal class?"

Duo grinned then shrugged. "Teaching it."

Heero watched with pride as Duo worked with Binky ignoring the large men all around. He'd told Zechs if this failed and made Duo worse, he'd beat him to within an inch of his life. Zechs had just shrugged and said if it did, he'd let him. "I'm good at this. I don't make mistakes. Just be there for him."

Wufei had started to say something to Heero but Zechs had just shaken his head at him. Wufei realized that he was worried about Duo too. His stomach was acting up again.

Zechs eyed Wufei for a moment then nudged Heero into the hall.

"Wufei have stomach trouble?"

Heero thought about that for a full second. "Not that I ever noticed. But, come to think of it, he's having trouble lately. Wonder what's up with that."

Zechs sighed. "I'm sure he'll tell us if it is serious. Let it be for now. I've embarrassed him enough for this month. My ass won't thank me if I annoy him too much."

Heero touched Zechs on the arm. "If he gets too rough let me know. Sometimes it's easier if someone else handles such things."

Zechs was touched. "Thank you, Heero. I really appreciate that. Wufei will never do me any harm. I know that. We have a written 'contract' you could say. I wrote down what I really won't do and what I like best. He's very good and extremely careful. I'd like to try shibari, but he won't until he can find an instructor." Heero just nodded with a soft grunt." I take it that you approve?"

"Hn" Heero walked off to check the arrangements for Duo's class. He'd been sitting in on them as well as helping with equipment and 'subjects'; dummy bombs for Duo to use as examples.

Heero had something special planned for today. He'd heard some grumbling about Duo not being as good as his reputation. Heero had been keeping the bombs fairly simple up to now to make sure that everyone was up to speed before throwing something really complicated at them. Today was separation day. The day he separated the men from the boys.

When Duo approached the building, he broke into a run, several men were kneeling or laying on the asphalt near the side door. The fire escape door that let directly into the large room he'd been using for his practicum.

"Hey, what the hell is going on?"

One man managed to contain his coughing long enough to snarl. "That fucker Yuy is a damn sadist that's what's going on."

Another man poked him and hissed. "Watch it, they're lovers!"

"So what? Doesn't change my opinion one bit. That bomb is impossible. The guy's a freak."

Duo just smiled at the one man and laughed at the other. "If 'Ro built it, it's nearly impossible. And yeah, he's a freak. But he's my freak." He opened the door to see if the smoke had cleared yet. "Well, come on. Let's see what lover boy has built to torture me with."

Heero was just done arming the bomb again. Duo knew he wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"Ok, 'Ro. What's the special occasion?"

"Separation day. Time for it."

Duo nodded "'K. This group fail?"

Heero nodded. "Gave them twenty minutes. They're the second group. You got . . ." Heero looked at a clip board. "Three more groups. Need to talk to you for a sec."

Heero drew Duo a side and explained that he'd used Duo's class notes to divide the class into testing groups. Since they were all gathered already, he'd gone ahead and started the test a bit early.

"I put two weak men and two strong men in each group. The strong ones in the failing groups, I marked down as try again. The weak ones either have to do well or they're dismissed. Is that ok? If not, we'll figure out something else. One group will make it easy, as the weak ones will get support from the strong ones, they'll all play to each other. Make a good team, if they pass this one. But I have my doubts about some of them. And passing doesn't necessarily mean disarming the bomb."

Duo nodded. They'd discussed the class several times and he felt the same as Heero. Some of the recruits would get themselves, and the rest of their teams, killed. They couldn't cooperate with others. Duo snickered slightly. "'Ro, you ever think it's a bit weird? We're wild-eyed individualists with a vengeance terrorists extraordinare and we're talking about cooperation and team work?"

Heero shrugged. "We managed to cooperate enough to win a war, I think we're entitled. Go . . . teach . . . show off." Heero brushed a quick kiss over Duo's knuckles and shoved him back towards the bomb of the day.

Duo examined the bomb and sighed. "Heero, I hate you. God, where did you get the idea for this monster."

Heero smirked at Duo. "I took all the things you complained about the most and put them all in one package. Oh . . . if you don't disarm it in ten minutes, it'll smoke you. Just so you know."

Duo watched as group after group set the thing off one way or another. He and Heero finally resorted to wearing gas masks so they didn't have to hold their breath as they activated the super fans Heero had placed strategically so that they didn't have to wait too long for the smoke to disperse.

After the last group set the bomb off by trying to pry the lid off, Duo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Heero thought it was cute as he always reached over the top of his head to do so.

"'Ro, I think we screwed up. No one beat the beast. Maybe you went a little too far."

Heero bit at his lip. "Maybe. But if I can think of it, why not a real scenario?"

"Heero. We both are experts at this. I don't think there's anyone else out there that has the training we do. Not that is still in the business anyway."

They both looked up to see the whole class gathered in a group. One of the men broke away and came over to the two ex-Terrorist teens. "Sir! Respectfully request permission to speak, sir!"

Duo blinked at the man but Heero just nodded. "Permission granted. Speak"

"We have discussed it amongst ourselves. Sir, we don't think it was a fair test. No one could disarm that thing in the time allowed."

Heero eyed Duo, then turned to the whole group. "I think perhaps I did go a little too far with this test. So it's nullified. But I know someone who_ can_ disarm it in the time allowed. Duo can do it."

Duo turned to look at Heero with a slight smirk of his own. "'Ro"

"No, I'm right. I made the bomb with your abilities in mind. Not theirs. And not the abilities of our normal bomb maker either. So, yeah, you can do it."

Someone muttered, "Sure he can do it. He helped make it."

Heero shook his head. "No he didn't, I made it all by my sneaky little self."

So it was decided that Duo should show the class how it was done and disarm the bomb himself.

"Ready? Time."

Heero punched the button to start the timer. Duo glared at it for a second. Then snarled. "Nine minutes? You're a shit, Yuy. No nooky tonight."

Heero just snorted and settled back to watch Duo work.

"Here. Here's a kit."

Duo just prodded his braid and pulled out several tools and bits of wire. "I've got my own. Thanks though."

Duo teased the pins out of the hinges and carefully lifted the lid, several men gasped. They'd tried that and set off the thing.

"Ha! Yuy, you won't catch me with that one. Mercury switch on the lid? Old, old, old. Got one for that." Duo rummaged around in the kit and pulled out liquid oxy. He injected it into the lid and froze the mercury, then he clipped the wires to the switch, but he was careful to raise the lid straight up. He swore as the timer started clicking over twice as fast.

"Dammit! Ok, hurry up." Duo inspected the inside of the bomb and realized that to disarm the charge would take more time than he had. Several others realized the same thing and moaned in sympathy. Others started easing for the doors.

"Yuy, I'm gonna hurt you bad. This is really tricky. I gotta figure out. . . ." Duo mumbled himself into silence, denying the charge that he couldn't shut up ever.

"Charge. wire. . . short. . . yeah . . . Then. . . hummm . . . gonna kill you slow. Fuck . . .fiend. . . "

Duo reached into the box and rummaged around, making all the gathered men cringe.

"Here." Duo pulled out a canister and handed it to Heero. Heero smirked happily. His lover had done it again. Against all the odds, he'd disarmed the bomb.

Duo turned around to find himself surrounded by a large group of very big men.

"Well, what the hell are you looking at? All I had to do was remove the target charge. The smoke. Think outside the box." A sharp bang made everyone flinch. "Yeah, that was the igniter. The main charge; the smoke bomb, is in Heero's hand."

"Excuse me?" No one bothered to look for who said it, they were all thinking the same thing.

"Ok. Heero knows his booby traps. The problem is not to keep something from going off. It's to contain the amount of damage it does in the process. In this case, the igniter charge was small. Only big enough to set off the smoke grenade. We don't want smoke, but we don't mind a small bang. So separate the igniter from its target. Make it so the smoke doesn't go off. Simple. Not easy, just . . . you have to examine all sides of something to find a way around it. You all were thinking about keeping it from going off altogether so you didn't analyze the consequences of letting part of it go off. So. . ." Duo shrugged letting the men figure out the rest for themselves. "'Ro, I'm starving. Let's go get something to eat."

Duo started to shove his way through the crowd, then he turned, eyed Heero and sighed. "You shit. That was a real dirty trick. Lucky for you it worked."

Heero smirked at Duo. Then handed him back the clips for his side arm. "You're not the only pickpocket in the crowd. How do you feel?"

Duo shrugged. "Good. Good. I'm hungry, a little creeped out, but not bad. And . . ." Duo turned to the group of grinning men. "Thanks, guys. That was really dangerous, so thanks a lot."

Duo grabbed Heero and hauled him out of the room. Shoving him into a small office across the hall he pounced.

Heero braced himself for a punch in the gut, but got a crushing hug and a kiss instead.

"Heero, you're one crazy mother fucker. You could have gotten some of those guys hurt. But thanks. I . . . really . . . thank you so much."

Heero gathered Duo into his arms and indulged himself in a fit of the shakes and had Duo rubbing his arms. "Hey, me too pal. Me too."

A sharp rap at the door warned them before Zechs stormed in, determined to take the blame if the desensitization had failed. But he saw Duo cuddled up to Heero and relaxed.

"How did it work? Are you really all right? Please . . ."

Duo grabbed Zechs from one side and Heero grabbed him from the other. Duo stood on tip toe and blessed Zechs with a kiss that lasted long enough that Wufei, leaning on the door frame, exclaimed, "Hey! My boyfriend, I believe. Hands and lips off. Go ravish your own."

One of the cleaning crew opened the door a few minutes later and seeing what was going on exclaimed. "Oh! Excuse me! Go get a room!"

xxxxx

Many thanks to all my kind reviewers. If you leave a review signed in, I will try to give you a personal reply. Otherwise, probably not.


	35. The Calm Before The Storm

The Price 35

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The Calm Before The Storm

Betaed by Skippyscatt

I know the chapter seems a little jumbled but bear with me, each of these sections happens at about the same time

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Zechs read the email with a disgusted curl of his lip. Relena was going to visit several prisons during her tour of Earth. He didn't like it but he couldn't explain why. She wouldn't listen to his protests. All she would say was that her security was provided by Preventers so it had to be the best. 'Une wouldn't let anything happen to me.'

Wufei walked in just as Zechs shut his computer down. He handed Zechs a mug of tea and held out his hand for the computer. Zechs traded the computer for the tea.

"Very nice. Heero's work or I miss my guess. You're very lucky. He's only built two others. One for himself and one for Duo." Wufei handed it back with an envious look.

Zechs bit his lip then offered the computer to Wufei. "You can have it if you like. Perhaps he'll build me another."

Wufei shook his head. "I'd never insult either one of you like that. It's yours. Heero built it expressly for you. But I thank you from the bottom of my heart." Wufei reached up and cupped a pale cheek in his calloused hand. Zechs bent down and kissed him.

"Mmmm, nice. You smell so good. Incense, and . . . something?"

Wufei laughed softly. "Jasmin. I spilled some of the tea on my hand. Drink it before it goes cold." Zechs obediently sipped at his tea. "You were making a face. What's wrong? And don't tell me nothing or we'll have a session."

Zechs smirked at Wufei. "I'd like that. I'm feeling tense. But . . . Relena and her little tour are getting on my nerves. Something . . . I just can't put my finger on it."

"Oh, well . . . I don't blame you. I wouldn't want my sister in some of the facilities she's intent on visiting. Don't let it bother you. She's got some of the best security available."

"Doesn't make a bit of difference. But, never mind that. I'm probably just borrowing trouble."

Wufei gave Zechs a sharp smack on the rear which made him snort. "Don't start something you're not going to finish."

Wufei sighed. "All right. We have to be to work in less than two hours. Hold that thought."

Duo shook his head. "Heero, you're not going to eat that are you? It's . . . just weird."

Heero poked at the scrambled tofu absently then shoveled a fork full into his mouth. "'S not bad. Wassa mata." Duo made a scornful face. "'S 'ot."

"Well, you deserve to have your mouth burned. That stuff is just gross. Why eat bean stuff when you can have real eggs?"

Zechs seconded that with a grunt and even Wufei made a doubtful face at the concoction. Heero defended his choice with one word. "Cholesterol"

Duo made a really rude noise. "Like it makes any difference to any of us. One; we're young. Two; I'll bet anything J fixed that as well as other stuff. So, eggs, not beans."

The argument continued from the table to the car. Zechs was driving as usual. Wufei refused to drive in the city saying that he'd rather not deal with idiots quite so early in the morning. Heero was forbidden to drive after he nearly rammed someone from behind because they stopped when he thought it was logical to go. And Duo had scared them all so badly that if he even looked like he was reaching for the key they all flinched.

Finally everybody agreed that tofu was beginning to be more than boring. Wufei changed the subject to the new colony in the L5 cluster that Quatre was building and colony design occupied the rest of the drive.

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When they got to the compound, they each headed in a different direction. They all had their own offices now and personal secretaries who handled their scheduling. Each pilot was teaching a complement of classes that would have boggled the minds of the legislators who said that they were irresponsible and undependable.

Duo headed for the bomb squad ready room, he had some things to clear up with the squad and wanted to get it done early. He didn't think it would take long.

"Easy there, boy. You better find your daddy."

Duo eyed the man with pure venom in his gaze. "And who the hell are you? I don't know your face."

The big man, who'd been standing just inside the door when Duo opened it and hit him with the edge just shrugged. "I'm new here. I'm supposed to meet with the Training Director and show him to the right class room. Like I said, you better find whoever you're supposed to be with and get with them."

Duo sighed, he was already tired of this. Every newbie seemed to think it was his duty to protect him from perversion or something.

"Well, I'm the Training Director, believe it or not. And if you are supposed to be showing me somewhere. Let's get there."

The man gave Duo a disbelieving look and snorted. Duo took him down and put his foot on his chest. The guy gulped once, his Adams' apple jumping, and clapped out.

"Geeze! I'm sorry! Damn, you're so little. Who'd expect you to be a Director of anything, much less the bomb squad? Who the hell are you?"

Duo let him up and snapped, "Right back at ya. Who are you?"

The man had the intelligence to look embarrassed. "Buck. Lord Buck. Mom had weird ideas. And you're?"

"Duo Maxwell. Where were you supposed to take me?"

"Meeting room down the hall. Come on."

Duo followed him without thinking.

When he went in the room, he was sucker punched; or rather kicked. Right behind the knees. He toppled into someone's arms. Arms which closed around him in a tight hug.

"Easy, easy. Don't kick. You lost."

Duo snarled. He'd said that if his men could trap him, he'd let them see what was in his braid. They'd done so, quite neatly. He gave the room a glare rivaling Heero's best.

"All right. You guys got me fair and square. What do you want me to do?"

The men all gathered around him careful to leave him an out, a space free of their big bodies. There were some grins and chuckles, and not a few smug looks.

"Ok, guys, grin all you want. But I wouldn't do to you what I'd do to bad guys. So . . ."

Duo started unbraiding his hair; and taking scary things out of it.

He produced several throwing pins, a dozen small balls of explosives, at least three sections of wire of different types, and most unnerving to those in the know, several pieces of prima cord. He also dropped an electronic detonator on the table.

"Well, that's the lot." Duo shook his hair out to prove he'd shown them everything. "Now. You bunch of perverts happy?"

Several voices allowed that they were. "Well, let's get to work. We're going to learn how to make sure there are no pressure sensitive switches. 'K, guys." Duo was busily braiding his hair as he spoke, tucking his kit back in as he braided. "Oh . . . and you wise guys can get to the bomb bunker double time."

Since the bunker was clear across the compound from where they were now, there was considerable groaning and grumbling.

Duo smacked them all down. "Hey! I'm gonna have ta chivvy the bunch of you girls, so I'll be right behind ya. Get movin'"

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Wufei was in the dojo leading an advanced sword skills class. Some would have wondered at that, others knew it wasn't fighting with an obsolete weapon that was the point. Discipline was. As well as the fact that explosive weapons were very dangerous on a colony or space ship. They could rupture the skin causing a blow out. Not good when the out was space.

"So, people. Why do we fight?"

Wufei eyed the line of men and women with a sour expression on his face. He was sure that none of them had a clue.

Not one of the people looked at him, the ceiling, the floor or anything else. They all kept their eyes straight ahead. 'Impressive, if it wasn't a sign that they have no idea'

Wufei snapped. "To insure freedom and justice for those who can't fight for themselves. You will now do 10 of each cut. While chanting 'we fight so others can be free'. Go!"

Wufei walked up and down the line of sweating, chanting people correcting form and offering criticism. He was unfailingly polite, no matter what their attitude. He was the Sensei, they were the students. He didn't expect them to have his discipline yet.

When the exercise was done, he told them to kneel and rest.

"Anyone have questions?" Wufei watched as one of the women started to raise her hand stopped then decided to raise it. "Yes"

"Sensei. I understand why we're training with swords, in theory. But in practice, is it really going to do any good? I mean . . ."she trailed off biting at her lip.

Wufei stood up and tucked his sword into his belt. They were all dressed in hakama. He felt the uniform would give the students more self-confidence. His were red, theirs were blue. He paced for a moment centering himself.

"To quote an old movie my friend is fond of. 'Do or do not. There is no try'."

Wufei moved easily through one of the more advanced kata, a kata that the class had been struggling with for days. He moved through the forms for ten minutes while the students watched enviously, he wasn't even sweating yet.

"Set up the straw dogs." Several of the students hurried to set the rolled tatami cutting targets on their stands. "You use bokken because you are students. I use a katana because I am a master. I was given my first sword when I was seven. I will now demonstrate cutting techniques also called tamishigiri." Wufei knew he sounded arrogant but there was no help for it. He _was_ the best sword in WEI. That was why he was an instructor.

He moved quickly, using all his skills. He cut each target using a different stroke while using all his skills. In several cases he used double or even triple attacks.

"Now you see how effective a sword can be. On the colonies projectile weapons are almost impossible to get. So, swords, crossbows and other muscle powered weapons are the norm. If you find out that your opponent has a slug thrower, back off immediately and call special ops. We'll take care of it." He didn't notice the looks he got from most of his students. "If you pass this class, you'll be one of us."

Wufei waited for a moment thencalled the class to order and began drilling them again.

hr>

Heero settled in for a long gossip with Gunnery Sergeant Mathews. He liked the man and had made up with him easily. Duo had encouraged him to come down to the Armory for a gab session when he realized that he was going to be hung up with his class for most of the day. Heero had dismissed his arms class early for a session of gun cleaning. So he was holed up in the armory office with the Gunnybecause he didn't want to listen to the bitching.

"Well. That went well . . . not. As Duo would say. I never heard so much groaning and grumbling in all my life." Heero plopped his feet on the desk, crossing his leg at the ankle. He sipped at the paint remover the Gunny called coffee. "It's not like I asked them to lick their guns clean. I even let them have their choice of tools."

The Gunny snorted. "Lick their arms clean? That's a new one on me."

Heero shrugged. "It really tastes god awful. Nearly as bad as this coffee. When's the last time you cleaned the pot?"

The Gunny looked at Heero askance. "Don't wash it. Takes all the cure out of it. Just dump the grounds once a week. And how would you know how . . . aw, hell, boy. I really don't want to know. That guy J ought to be shot."

Heero snorted. "Can't shoot him. He got blown up. Serves him right. And you really should wash that pot. I swear there's mold in here. It's unsanitary . . . By the way. Have you seen that new taser gun? And there's a dart model that I really want to get a look at. Some kind of new dart, and the compression ratio is adjustable. Or so I've heard."

"Well, he should have got killed slow. Anyway, that taser is wild. Doesn't need even the thin wires that have been the norm for centuries. Some kind of narrow beam broadcast thing. And the new dart guns are bad mammas. New plastic injection molded to hold a hell of a charge. The darts are something else. Soy based and biodegradable. They actually are the tranq. It's in the plastic so you don't have to worry about breaking the vial and they're color coded. Cool as all get out. I'll see if I can't get you a demo."

Heero finished his coffee, and leaned back in his chair. "Thanks. Really appreciate it. But you better get four of each. I don't fancy what will happen if Duo, Zechs, or especially Wufei feel left out. Wufei would start a rant about injustice just to get back at me. And Duo would cut me off at the knees."

"What about Zechs? He's like royalty or something isn't he?"

"Zechs would just think it was what he deserved. Stupid ass. And he's Crown Prince of SanqWhether anyone likes it or not. Although Relena is younger than he, she's . . ." Heero trailed off as the Gunnyheld up his hand.

"Don't bother. It's all politics and way beyond anold grunt like me. I really don't care. All that royalty stuff doesn't amount to a hill of beans when the lead starts flyin'"

Heero agreed with the gunny and accepted another cup of coffee. They sipped in companionable silence for a while, until a man came in with a request for a new short rod. He'd managed to break the patch holder off, leaving the screw end in the rod.

The Gunny issued him a new one and told him to take it easy as next time he might scratch the receiver.

Heero picked up the rod and fiddled with it for a moment. "It's too soft, you need to have them use harder steel."

"Yeah, well. You have to really work to break it off."

Heero held the rod for a second then bent it by folding it over his index finger using just his thumb and middle finger. The Gunnysighed. "Damn, you're strong. Don't believe it."

Heero snorted into his cup, holding in laughter.

"Yeah, and I suppose you've never broken the damn . . . oh, I remember. You use one of those drop through cords. How's that work for ya?"

Heero put down his cup and shrugged, producing a Taurus 9mm from somewhere. He fished in his left thigh pocket and pulled out a small case.

He opened it and laid out his equipment. There was a small bottle of oil, a cord with small weights on each end, a brass brush with a screw end and several cleaner impregnated 'patches' in foil packets.

"Don't you have a patch head?"

Heero shook his head. "No, just double the cord over. Eliminates the need for one. And that makes one less piece to lose."

"Aahh. I see. Nice kit. Where'd you get it?"

"Duo."

"Well, Geeze. Real informative. Where'd he get it?"

Heero grinned at the Gunny. "He made it. There's only five, no six, like it that I know about."

"Dammit. I wanted to order a bunch. You think he'll let me farm the design out?"

Heero shrugged. "Probably. Have to ask him."

The Gunny watched in awe as Heero stripped the 9mm down in less that three seconds. He dropped the weighted ends into the ejector, slipped the cleaning patch into the loop and pulled it through the barrel. Then he cleaned the slide, wiped down the small parts, and put the whole thing back together. It took him less that a minute total.

"Damn boy. You must have done that like a million times. You're slick."

Heero preened just a little. "Well, I don't think I've actually done it a million times. More like eight hundred thousand, give or take a grand. You should see Duo. He's almost as good as I am with this gun. Makes him better really."

The Gunny gave him a baffled look. Heero explained with a wink. "He has to steal it from me first."

The Gunny nearly tipped over backwards, he laughed so hard.

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Zechs picked up his kit and headed to the 'crime scene' he was hoping that this class didn't have a squeamish squealer in it like the last one had. Duo had griped about it for days.

He gathered the class around him and started in on the standard 'don't touch anything unless you're one of the lab crew' lecture. And got some flack almost immediately.

"What do you think we are? Cops? We're . . ."

Zechs interrupted the man before he could get started.

"We are the people who take over when the cops are stumped. This is second or even third response. So pay attention. Everybody and his dog has already trampled through the place."

Zechs continued with his lecture and this time everybody paid attention. He showed them how to measure everything from blood spots to line of sight angles and tag-ins.

"All right everybody, if you've finished with your measurements, we'll head back to the lab and get started. I don't expect everyone to be expert in everything. In fact, this exercise is to find out what you're best at. So . . . lab . . . go."

In the lab each person had their own computer with which to analyze whatever they thought was important. Zechs monitored them all from a master station. He watched in mounting frustration as every single one of his students missed vital information. And some even got obvious angles wrong. He rubbed his face and grumbled. 'Why me. Why do I always get the idiots? Not that it makes much difference. I deserve it after all.'

He spent the next two hours trying to hint each of his students into discovering for themselves what they had done wrong. It worked with some, but others seemed to be completely oblivious.

"What the hell is a tag . . . what?"

Zechs walked up behind the woman who was eyeing her monitor with a puzzled frown.

"Tag-in's . . . Usually pronounced tag-uns . . . Are small multi-layered bits of plastic. They are identifiers mixed in every batch of explosives made. They've been doing it since the 21st century old calendar. Helps to identify explosives. Each batch has its own series of color lines. And they're all registered. That's why Maxwell made so much of his own. All you have to do is record the color series and check the register."

The woman picked at her lip for a second. "I see. But . . . Hummm"

Zechs moved away as she started typing. She was going to work out.

The next student in his help line was having trouble with trajectory analysis. He hadn't taken his measurements properly so he kept coming up with six shooters. Which was impossible as there were only two guns. One; the victims, the other; the killers.

"How the hell did you mess this up that badly? There's only two people in the room, both dead. Two guns, both discharged multiple times. Two different calibers which match the bullets dug out of the bodies which have been scientifically matched to the guns. So how the hell did you get those results."

"The instruments must be calibrated wrong. I just . . . this doesn't make sense. I know what results I'm supposed to be getting, but I can't."

Zechs sighed. "The instruments are calibrated correctly. I did it myself. But bad instruments can be compensated for . . . in a pinch. It won't stand up in court but . . . I know Maxwell has done it by sticking his finger in the wound for the angle."

The man turned green and jumped up. "Stuck his finger . . . excuse me"

He headed for the men's room at a dead run. Zechs shook his head. It was going to be one of those days.

hr>

Quatre and Trowa stood on opposite sides of the small laboratory table. The non-reactive surface reflecting their images with a fuzzy lack of detail. The small bit of substance between them looked like nothing but a piece of paper.

Trowa looked doubtful. "That's it? It . . . looks so . . . plain."

Quatre picked it up carelessly. "That's it. It does look plain. When it's in this state, it's easily transported. You can roll it . . . fold it . . . crumple it. Even write on it." He followed each sentence with the appropriate action.

Writing 'Q + T' enclosed in a heart, Quatre went on. "Cut it. With plain scissors no less." He cut the heart out of the substance and lay in on the table. "But once it's been transformed. It's harder than gundanium and can only be cut with special cutters. We supply them, of course. And they self-destruct if they're tampered with."

Quatre sprayed the heart with chemicals from a small spray bottle. The heart shifted slightly under the spray. It didn't look much different, but when Trowa picked it up, it was rigid. The writing was still plainly visible. Trowa smiled at Quatre who smiled back. Neither was a very nice sort of smile.

"Very nice. You're a good business man Quatre. What the hell are we going to do with it?"

Quatre changed subtly. He went from a cute, smiling young man, to a stern faced, hard nosed business man in a second. "What do you think we're going to do with it? It's neo-gundanium."

Trowa just nodded. "And who's going to test the things?"

"Oh, I have two test pilots in mind. Very experienced. Excellent skills."

Trowa smirked at Quatre. "Wonder who those two men are."

Quatre shrugged and smiled. Then went on to a discussion of timetables. He had the uncomfortable feeling that the new mobile suits were going to be needed sooner than he'd hoped.

The construction facility was in the new colony that Quatre was building. And the men in it knew that everything there was top secret.

The neo-gundanium was being manufactured there. It couldn't be made anywhere but in space. But once formed it could be solidified anywhere. On Earth, inside a colony, or in space itself. All that was needed was a special nozzle to contain the spray so that it touched the sheet of neo-gundanium instead of disbursing into the vacuum.

Quatre and Trowa inspected the facility daily with an eye out for any kind of sabotage or espionage. They didn't need their secrets getting out too soon.

Trowa also scanned the news every day for any signs of the rebellion they both feared would rear its head.

They both heard the same rumblings and they were worried. The colonies were pulling back from ESUN for lack of law enforcement. Things were getting out of hand. The colonies were starting to talk about self determination again.

Quatre crept into Trowa's arms and sighed. "I'm not happy. I hear things I don't like. The legislators aren't listening to the colonies again. And I hear that the military and Preventers are at odds."

Trowa hugged Quatre gently. "Don't worry. You know we have plans in the works to take care of almost any thing they can think up. If you worry too much, you won't be able to do what you need to when the time comes. You'll be mentally exhausted. Right?"

Quatre mumbled into his chest. "Right?" Trowa tucked his crooked index finger under Quatre's chin and raised his head. Quatre looked up into loving eyes and sighed again.

"Yes, you're right. I'm going to take out most of my worry on testing those mecha. And we need to think of a name for them. Before someone starts calling them the new Gundams and scares the shit out of people."

Trowa nodded. "I know. But what should we call them?"

"Don't know. I'll have to think about it. Maybe you could get in touch with the guys and have them help figure out something?'

"I really don't want to put the info in the etherat all. Too much chance of interception."

Quatre nodded. "You're right. I just hate keeping this secret from them. Wufei is going to have a fit."

Trowa shuddered. "He'll rant forever. But I'm more scared of Duo's reaction. If he gets quiet about it, I'm running for the hills."

Quatre shuddered. "He'll just blow them up."

hr>

Lady Une paced her office thinking furiously. She was in deep shit and she knew it. The local police didn't have a chance. The state troopers said it wasn't their jurisdiction and the sheriff flat out admitted he didn't have the resources. Preventers couldn't handle this either. She called her aide and told him what she wanted. He turned pale and left.

"Dammit!"

Une hated to do this, she knew there was going to be all kinds of hysteria and public panic, but she didn't know what else to do.

Her aide came in and announced that her car was at the door.

"Milliardo is going to have a complete fit. And Yuy, I don't want to even contemplate what he's going to do. They're all going to go ballistic or my name's not Ann. Son of a bitch."

Her aide just winced in sympathy and held the door.

hr>

Heero straightened up and glanced at his watch, it was beeping and the code displayed on the face meant he was wanted in his office. He excused himself to the Gunny and left.

Wufei snarled in annoyance his watch was beeping, interrupting the class. It also displayed the code for 'wanted in office' he excused himself to the class, handing it over to his second, and left.

Duo was in his office and just signaled his secretary to find out what she wanted, since Zechs was sitting in his company chair they both got the call at the same time.

"Well, we're wanted in the meeting room down the hall. Some type of emergency. Let's go."

Zechs rose with a groan. "As long as I don't have to go back to the lab and deal with those fools anymore. I don't care what it is."

They met the others in the hall just outside the doors.

Duo groaned. "I don't like this. I don't like it at all. Fuck"

Heero took his hand. "I'm not real happy either. What kind of emergency could it be to have all of us in the meeting?"

Wufei glanced at Zechs who was biting his lip. "I don't like it either. Zechs stop that, you'll make it bleed."

"Yes, Meili. I've got a really bad feeling about this. Really bad." He took a deep breath. "Well, come on. Staring at the door won't tell us anything."

Zechs opened the door and ushered the others in the room. When he shut the door and turned around he was surprised to see Lady Une standing beside the big table in the center of the room. Duo had gone to the other door and was leaning against the door frame in a hostile posture, his arms crossed over his chest, one ankle crossed over the other. Heero was standing near Duo just looking at her. His face showed no expression at all. Wufei was standing at the foot of the table, one hand on a chair an unreadable expression on his face.

Zechs felt his stomach fall into his boots. The look on Une's face meant that it was bad. Probably very bad.

Une paced for a moment, refraining from sitting in the chair at the head of the table. She didn't want to antagonize anyone and taking that chair surely would. She settled for the chair at the right-hand top of the table.

"Gentlemen, please sit down. I need to talk to all of you. It is imperative that you hear me out without interruption." She knew that there was little chance of that but she had to try.

Heero settled across from her with Duo on his right, holding his hand. Wufei paced until Zechs sat down, then he settled next to him. Une realized that they were all on the opposite side of the table from her.

"Please, I'm sorry to call you on such short notice but there's a situation. A bad one."

Zechs sighed, pushing his bangs off his forehead in an irritable gesture. "Ann, stop beating around the bush. Just spit it out before it chokes you."

"Very well. A very important person is being held hostage. We have a real problem as the site is fortified, very secure. Preventers don't have jurisdiction or sanction to intervene. Um . . . state troopers . . . not that they really exist anymore . . . refuse to claim responsibility. The local police don't have jurisdiction and the sheriff says point blank that he doesn't have equipment or men trained to handle the problem. So . . . I am coming to you for help."

She looked around the table for a moment as she let the mess sink in. As various expressions flitted across faces, she concentrated on Zechs and Duo.

Duo just looked curious and a bit hostile. He was going to give her a chance to either hang herself or convince him they were really needed.

Zechs on the other hand just looked impatient.

Neither Wufei nor Heero changed expressions in the least, they both wore expressions of polite curiosity.

Une tapped her finger on a button on the laptop placed on a side table. The computer projected a presentation introduction into the air. Une outlined the problem, the area and told them all she could about the problem. It took most of two hours. Someone crept in with tea, coffee, and sandwiches on a tray. The food was passed absently from hand to hand around the table.

After she had talked herself dry, she looked around the table. Duo was frowning in concentration his animosity either forgotten or put aside. Wufei was patiently waiting for her to wind up. Heero was watching Duo and seemingly ignoring her, she knew he had absorbed every detail. Zechs was absently biting his knuckle putting his brains to work on the puzzle she'd given them.

Heero suddenly paled. He kicked Duo gently under the table and then poked Wufei. Both young men turned to him with puzzled expressions. Heero turned to Une.

"And just who is the VIP in question?"

Une had been afraid of this question since she'd walked in the room. All four looked at her waiting for an answer to that question.

"Relena"

Duo muttered. "Oh, fuck me sideways." Then pulled a stunned looking Heero out of his chair.

Wufei blinked once then sensibly dived under the table.

Zechs slowly rose to a rather impressive height. Une thought he'd grown at least two inches since the last time she'd seen him. Then she got a really good look at his face.

It was frozen in a look of such fury that she cringed.

"And just _exactly_ how did you manage this disaster." Zechs towered over the room like a thunder head, his fury plain on his face, his stature threatening.

"Now, Milliardo, I know you're upset. But you're not doing any of us any good by losing your temper."

Wufei made a rude noise and went to Zechs. Duo clutched at Heero before he did something they'd all regret.

Wufei petted and cooed until Zechs allowed himself to be coaxed into a chair. Heero simply gripped Duo's hand and ground his teeth.

Une finally admitted that she was at wit's end to handle the situation and was handing the whole thing over to them without prejudice. They had free rein to do whatever they thought was necessary.

The crash as Zechs threw the entire snack tray at a wall surprised Une. Duo and Heero just ducked the flying debris. Wufei just sighed and started trying to calm Zechs again.

hr>

I know this chapter is really short but this is the best place to end it. The next chapter will be up within 10 days. (I hope)

If you're really interested in tamishigiri go here. http/


	36. Stress Relief

The Price 36

Stress Relief.

Betaed by Skippyscatt

This Chapter is mostly lemon, Duo and Heero in vanilla sex and Wufei and Zechs in shibari. You're warned, I hope.

After a short but pithy dressing down aimed at Une, her agents, and Preventers in general, Zechs rounded up the others with a look and bowed at Une.

"Excuse us. We have work to do."

Zechs stalked out the door, Wufei at his side.

Duo shuddered, eyed Une with mild disfavor, and remarked softly, "I really don't want to see him hurt. Wufei will be unbearable." He left, following Wufei and Zechs.

Une blinked, Heero was white as a sheet and staring after Duo as if he'd grown two heads.

"What is it? I thought Maxwell took it the best of all of you."

Heero turned blank blue eyes to Une's puzzled ones. "He's too quiet. When he gets like that Shinigami is really near the surface." Une started to say something, but Heero's bleak look stopped her.

Heero followed his friends out the door.

Une gathered up her computer and a few papers with shaking hands. Anyone who turned Heero Yuy that shade of white scared her too. She couldn't believe he was afraid of that loud mouthed bratMaxwell. She shook her head, completely confused.

Zechs stalked down the halls until he reached his office. He dragged Wufei into the room and slammed the door nearly in Heero's face. Heero just grabbed Duo and headed for their office.

Wufei absently rubbed at his stomach, the ache below his navel was back.

Zechs turned to Wufei and gathered him into his arms, holding him close and shaking. Wufei realized that tears were soaking into his shoulder.

"What do we do? What do they want? Wufei, what if . . . they _hurt_ her?"

Wufei knew exactly what Zechs was referring to. "Then we punish them and we deal. We need to go home . . . now. You're not going to be in any condition to deal with this right now."

"I . . . have to. I have to pull myself together . . . take . . . dammit!"

Zechs picked up the heavy paperweight from his desk and hurled it at the wall. It made a hole the size of a man's head in the plaster board and stuck in the other side of the wall, only an inch kept it from going completely through.

Wufei shoved his own pain down and dealt. "That is quite enough! You'll not endanger others with your temper tantrums. Come with me. Now!"

Zechs glared for a moment then deflated like a punctured balloon. "Wufei . . . I . . . yes, I'm coming."

Wufei straightened his shoulders, ignored his pain and led Zechs out to the car.

"You drive. I'm going to sleep until we get home. Prepare yourself."

Zechs just nodded, took the wheel and pulled the car away from the curb.

Duo eyed the paperweight protruding from the wall. "You think he's gonna flip out on us?"

Heero nibbled at his lip in thought. "Doubt it. He'll get it together and keep it together until we get Relena back. Then . . . all bets are off. Wufei is going to have his hands full. So . . . mission reports or go home?"

Duo shuffled through the reports. "I got questions. You type; I'll talk. You come up with questions too. So . . . you wanna start or me go first."

Heero shrugged. "I cun type fastest as you can talk. And drop that damn accent."

Duo snarled wordlessly and faked a swat at Heero. "I'm gonna order some tea. Work on that, 'K? And don't try to talk L2 slang, sounds worse on you than it does on me. At least I get it right."

Heero opened his computer and set it on his desk. The infra red key board deployed itself with a flick of his finger. He started typing and kept it up until the tea came. Duo paced and thought.

The man who brought in the tea was quick and silent, efficiently laying out the tea cups and pot. He slipped out as silently as he slipped in. Neither Heero nor Duo noticed the sweat on his brow or the slight shaking of his hands.

Duo poured his tea and doctored it then he poured Heero some and brought him the cup. He sipped silently until Heero stopped typing and looked at him. Duo motioned to Heero's tea, Heero took the cup and sipped at the tea while Duo finished collecting his thoughts.

Duo worked his way through a list of questions as Heero typed them up. He had to smile as Heero said more often than not, 'already thought of that'

Heero collated the data and generated a report, or rather a list of needed information. He mailed it to Une and then shut down his computer. Duo flinched when his beeped for an incoming mail. When he reached for it, Heero patted his arm.

"I sent you a copy of the report so you'd have one if you need it."

Duo nodded. "Let's go home. I'm tired."

Heero took Duo's hand and chucked him under the chin gently to make him look up. "Duo, are you ok?" Duo started to look down. "Don't. I need to see your eyes. Please."

Duo shrugged. "I'm ok. I'll be . . . fine. Just . . . don't fuss."

Heero shook his head. "Duo focus. You can't go off. You just can't. I need you to keep it together."

Duo pressed his forehead against Heero's. "I won't lose it. I promise. But . . . some asshole has Relena. She's a pest sometimes, but she's a good person. And . . . dammit."

Heero rocked Duo back and forth in what any woman would have recognized as the 'baby waltz'. "It'll be ok. We'll make it ok. They can't hurt her much. It'll spoil her hostage value. Damn! I hate this. You're all Shinigami. Relena's going through who knows what. And Zechs . . . is he falling apart? What? And Wufei doesn't look good either."

Duo nodded. "I know, he really doesn't. After this is over, we need to drag him to a phys and get him checked out."

Heero pulled Duo into a hug. "We'll fix this. We will!"

Duo hugged back. "Yeah, we will. We're the go to guys. Right?"

They hugged for a while longer then left for their own car to head for home as well.

Heero had to smile. Duo was peeling out of his uniform jacket, and the way he was wriggling his shoulders to shake it down his arms in the confines of the car was making him look so sexy that Heero had to contain himself.

"Wait until we get home."

Heero made a soft sound of inquiry.

"I'm gonna do things to you that'll make you scream."

Heero snorted. "No one's ever done that."

Duo gave Heero a feral look that made him shiver. "Yeah, but I'm not no one. Am I?"

Heero nearly hit the curb outside the front door.

They didn't exchange any further words as they hurried up the stairs to their quarters dropping jackets and shoes along the way. The maid that picked them up just shook her head and took them away to be cleaned.

Heero pulled Duo into his arms the second they went through the door. Duo collapsed against him with a sigh.

Heero worried at his lip for a second then decided. They both needed stress relief in the worst way.

Heero gently picked Duo up, careful to telegraph what he was doing first. They both had some bad twitches and in this situation he didn't want either one of them to freak. He carried Duo through the sitting room and into the bedroom where he let his feet drop to the floor. Duo leaned against the door and sighed.

Heero began simply by touching Duo. Duo was so tactile, he loved being touched, especially by Heero.

Stroking his hands down Duo's chest Heero touched, caressed, worshiped. He reached the hem of Duo's t-shirt and slid his hands back up the way they'd come, under the shirt. He pushed the material up to Duo's chin then stopped. He nipped at Duo's chin until he raised it enough that the shirt didn't catch on his chin. Heero pulled it over Duo's head down his braid and off. Duo picked it out of Heero's hand and tossed it on the floor.

"Hate that uniform shirt. I'm talkin' t' Quat'bout it. Come"

Heero interrupted, "Not yet." making Duo snicker against the side of his neck. Heero giggled slightly causing Duo to give him a 'look'. "Tickles."

"Mmmm, good." Duo sucked on the side of Heero's neck, not hard enough to make a mark, just hard enough to taste the salt of his sweat, feel the beat of his pulse against his tongue. Heero leaned into the soft, hot mouth and whimpered.

"Made you whimper."

"Did not."

"Did too. Like it?"

Heero showed his appreciation of the action by returning the favor. Duo didn't bother to deny that he moaned, and whimpered. Instead he pulled Heero in the general direction of the bed, while trying to get the button on his jeans undone. Heero helped by wriggling his hips.

"So not helping. Hold still."

Heero reached down and pulled the button through the button hole, the wrong way, ripping it off completely. He wriggled his hips again causing the zipper to slide down then the pants to slip off his hips. They slid to mid thigh and tripped him. Not that either he or Duo objected much.

Heero stepped out of his jeans and reached for his t-shirt. Duo beat him to it by a split second, a second that spelled the shirt's demise. Duo didn't bother with subtlety, he ripped it in half and tossed the pieces over his shoulder. Heero made a dive for Duo's jeans and nearly turned him upside down to get them off.

Duo had to laugh at that and Heero had to laugh because Duo was laughing. They fell on the bed together laughing softly. The rest of their clothing suffered at Heero's steely strength, rags of boxers fluttered to the floor.

Heero pinned Duo with his body while Duo protested this treatment vigorously. "Heero, wanna touch you. Lemme."

Heero licked his way up the column of Duo's neck until he reached his lips. He spent a minute nipping at them until they opened allowing him entrance to Duo's mouth. He slipped his tongue into the orifice and explored for a moment. Duo replied with interest making Heero sigh in appreciation.

"Duo, love. My heart. My soul."

Duo groaned. "God you got verbal. I like. More, please."

Heero smirked. "My shrink says that auditory seduction is better then manual stimulation. It's more memorable."

"I like the way the man thinks. Touch . . . yeah, just there."

Heero was gently stroking one of Duo's nipples, when he pinched it Duo arched his back with an inarticulate cry.

Heero soothed the pinch with a quick lick then flicked the swollen bud with the tip of his tongue. Duo writhed, clutching the sheet with both hands. Heero kissed and licked his way down to the dimple of Duo's navel. He licked it then blew his breath across the wet spot and watched as Duo goose-pimpled and squirmed.

Heero started to go lower but Duo stopped him by the simple expedient of rolling him over onto his back. This put Duo on Heero's chest. He wriggled until he was nestled in the v of Heero's thighs. He moved carefully sliding their erections together until Heero moaned softly. While he was doing that Duo was also assaulting Heero's nipples, one with a flickering finger tip the other with sucking lips and warm moist tongue. Heero made a sound somewhere between a whimper and a moan.

Duo slid slowly down his body until he could touch Heero's erection with his chin, licking and sucking at his abs and the hollow between his treasure and his thigh. Heero managed to be quiet, panting softly. Duo nipped at Heero's thighs and licked the nips.

Heero whimpered softly then slid his fingers into Duo's hair, being very careful not to pull at it. Duo found that silky hollow between thigh and groin and nibbled at it. Heero's entire body clenched into a knot of passion.

Duo licked and nibbled at Heero until his entire length was wet and swollen, then he gripped him in a firm hand and stroked him. Heero shifted and used his strength to pull Duo onto his body, Duo's feet at his ears. Duo whimpered as Heero demonstrated his ability to not only hold his breath but control every muscle in his body.

Duo let out a series of yelping cries as Heero swallowed, stroking his erection with his tongue at the same time.

"God, Heero. I'm not going to last much longer at this rate. Slow down."

Heero moved like a snake, twisting and rolling at the same time. Duo found himself on his back with Heero between his legs. "No."

"Ohshit,ohshit, no. .. yes . . . there . . . hurry." Duo rapidly descended into incoherent babbling as Heero found his way from nipples to navel to groin. When Duo was sure he was going to lose his mind and had certainly lost control of the situation, Heero hooked his arms under Duo's legs and lifted him until his buttocks rested on steel hard thighs.

Duo reached up under the pillow and found the slick, he handed it off to Heero who took a moment to kiss the reaching fingers. He tucked the slick between his legs and leaned over to lick the hollow of skin that Duo had loved so well on him. Duo thrashed and complained, "Heero, you're teasing. Stop. I'll blow . . . please . . . oh . . . yes. "

Heero slid one finger from Duo's tail bone to the crown of his erection. He stroked gently for a few moments as he slicked the fingers of his other hand. This was the perilous part, when he was in this state if Heero was too rough Duo could react very badly.

"You ready? I'm going to touch you now. Duo?"

Duo groaned and slid his hand down his abs to his groin. He took hold of Heero's hand and guided it to where he wanted it. "Yeah. Oh, yeah. Go for it. I'm so hot. So . . . don't . . . Heero."

Heero slipped one finger into Duo and went for his sweet spot, Duo let Heero know that he'd found it in no uncertain terms.

The next few minutes were spent in probing and kissing, Duo kissed whatever part of Heero he could reach and Heero kissed back.

When Heero slid into Duo's body Duo yelled so loud that Heero paused a moment to make sure he wasn't hurting him, but Duo arched his back and thrust his hips in a way that made Heero let out a sound that was suspiciously like a yell of his own.

The pace Heero set was slow and steady, it had Duo begging in no time at all. Heero smiled down at Duo and pressed his chest into Duo's thighs bending him until nearly every stroke hit that spot that made fireworks go off behind his eyes.

Duo panted, he begged, he whimpered, when he began to threaten Heero relented and increased his pace. When Duo clenched around him in the beginning of his release the rippling of his internal muscles massaged Heero until he came with a scream.

They collapsed in a sweating, panting, limp heap. Heero recovered first and rearranged both of them into a more comfortable position on the bed.

"Made ya scream."

Heero pressed a kiss to Duo's sweating forehead. "So you did."

Une read the reports and frowned. This whole thing worried her, none of the hostages had been hurt, pictures proved that. No demands had been made. Nothing. All that had happened so far was that Relena and her entourage had been taken hostage at (Heero's old facility) and were being held until further notice. All the usual riders were attached, no police, don't cut off power etc.

After reading the reports and watching the vid reports all she could think was they were a bunch of fanatics and who knew what they would do next. When her phone buzzed she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Une. Speak."

"Lady Une. Winner here. Sorry. We're on a fifteen minute delay so just listen. Trowa and I have a weapon that you'll want. We need time to get it there. If you can hold the terrorists off for two days we can have them there. I have to go finish preparations to launch the shuttle. My assistant will be here to take your message when it finally gets here. Tell Duo and Heero I'm sorry there's only two. Or Wufei and Zechs I should say, as the ones I'm sending were made for Duo and Heero respectively. Signing off."

Une muttered, "Cryptic? Hell. I wonder what he was on about." then addressed the vid phone. "I'll wait until I see the weapons before I get anyone's hopes up too much. Une off." She reached out and tapped the off button.

Wufei had gotten Zechs to take a bath, he needed to relax and Wufei needed the time to prepare. Zechs knew that he was going to get what he needed he just didn't know the form it would come in. That was one of the things he loved about Wufei, his endless inventiveness.

While Zechs was soaking, Wufei prepared his scenario very carefully. Zechs needed to feel controlled, punished; but still loved and protected, from himself mostly. Wufei examined his tools and went over what he needed to do again. Once satisfied, he went into the bathroom and slid into the tub with Zechs.

"Are you going to be ready for this? Do you really need it? Make sure."

Zechs leaned into Wufei and sighed. "Intellectually I know that it's not my fault. But my inner fuckup insists that somehow I'm to blame. I won't be able to concentrate like I should. Please? Help me?"

Wufei slid his arms around Zechs and just held him for a moment. "You lost control. I never want to see you so uncontrolled again. It's rather like being in the midst of a lightening storm in a glider."

Zechs rubbed his cheek against the top of Wufei's head shifting carefully so as not to slop water out of the tub. "I'm usually in much better control. But that's my sister dammit. And what are they doing to her right now? I can't . . . I . . ."

Wufei put one finger over his lovers' lips. "Shh, shhuush. They won't hurt her . . . not yet at least. They haven't made their demands yet. Relax, enjoy our session. Take control of yourself. We need you to be calm . . . Zechs?"

Zechs sighed and nodded. "Yes, please. I really do need it."

**/"/ **Very well. I'll give you some time to prepare yourself." Wufei stood up in the tub and started to reach for a towel. Zechs reached out and grabbed his hips. Wufei froze for a second then realized what Zechs was up to.

"You don't have to."

Zechs nuzzled his soft sex. "I want to. Sometimes you forget to take care of yourself. I want you to be relaxed too. Let me?"

Wufei groaned as Zechs mouthed him gently. "Yes, please. Oh, please. So . . ." Wufei stopped speaking because he forgot what he was going to say.

Zechs proved that he was more than a pretty face, he was a Hoover. He took Wufei in his mouth and gently rolled the flaccid flesh over his tongue until it took notice. As Wufei's knees started to give, Zechs guided him from the suddenly empty tub. Wufei gripped Zechs shoulders and locked his knees.

Zechs licked at the hollow behind Wufei's sex and hummed softly. He knew that Wufei was so sensitive there that he had to be careful not to over stimulate him. Wufei moaned and clutched at Zechs hair. Zechs shuddered a little as he pulled the pins holding it out and allowed the heavy braid to fall over his back.

Wufei stroked his fingers through silvery bangs and enjoyed the sensations as Zechs hollowed his cheeks and sucked, mouthing at the heavy head as he did so.

When Zechs gripped Wufei's thighs to keep him steady, he also wrapped his fingers around them far enough that he could reach between them to caress the silken skin behind his testicles. Wufei yelped and released hard. Zechs sucked until he was soft then let him slide from his mouth. Wufei sighed.

"Oh, that was good. Hold me for a second. I'm going to fall right over if you don't." Zechs stood licking his lips and grinning. "You have a very talented mouth."

Zechs grinned even wider. "I do come from a political family you know. Runs in the genes."

Wufei laughed. "Come into the bedroom. I think you'll really like what I have planned for you."

"Yes, sir."

Wufei took Zechs by the hand and led him to the thick mat he'd placed on the floor. Zechs eyed the collection, bundles of rope, a chain, a padded cuff spreader bar, and a flexible cane.

"Anything you don't think you want?"

Zechs shook his head, eyes already slightly glazed. "No. I'm ok with all of it. Except . . . what's the chain for?"

"Suspension. I thought you might like to try it."

Zechs shook his head. "No. I . . . don't think so. Not this time."

Wufei picked up the chain and spreader bar and laid them aside without comment.

Zechs moved to stand in the middle of the mat where he waited for further instructions. He was already in sub mode, trembling slightly as he waited.

Wufei smiled at him and picked up the first bundle of rope. "I know you have good balance, we're going to test it. Stand on one leg, either one."

Zechs stood on his right leg and allowed Wufei to lift his left leg pressing the ankle to the back of that thigh. Wufei lowered the leg enough that he could pass several wraps of the rope around it. Then he passed the rope around Zechs's thigh tying the ankle against it. After wrapping the end through the gap between ankle and thigh several times Wufei reached over and grasped Zechs by the right wrist and pulled it gently across his back. He looped a wrap around the wrist and, after checking that he wasn't straining his shoulder tied several loops around it.

"Ok?"

Zechs put some pressure on the bonds. "Yes."

Wufei knelt and watched Zechs for several minutes as he silently struggled to find some comfortable way to stand. Zechs knew that Wufei wouldn't let him fall, the feeling of relying on someone else was a rush.

Wufei got up and stood in front of Zechs. "Lean into me. Then kneel."

Zechs obeyed, letting his weight slide onto Wufei then bending his unbound knee to lower himself to the mat. He trusted Wufei to hold him long enough to kneel without letting him go down too hard. Settling onto his knees, Zechs waited for what was next.

Wufei checked both hands and feet, feeling carefully to see that they were still warm, comparing the bound and unbound. After that he picked up another bundle of rope and bound Zechs, matching one side to the other. This left Zechs with both ankles bound to the same side thighs with each wrist bound across his back to the opposite ankle. He was beginning to get sore kneecaps when Wufei said, "Kneel down."

Zechs sat back on his feet settling carefully so that he didn't pinch himself. He sighed softly, falling deeper into sub space.

"Zechs?"

"MMM"

"Ok?"

"Yes, sir."

Wufei fetched the last bundle of rope and made a loose collar around his lovers neck, making sure that it was just tight enough that he could feel it but loose enough he wouldn't choke. He also made sure to tie it with the proper knot so it couldn't tighten on its own. Zechs groaned deep in his throat at the feeling of it.

"Lift your arms as high as you can."

Zechs complied with the order and felt the ropes around his wrists tighten. Wufei wrapped his rope across hard chest muscles taking time to tweak at already hardened nipples as he did so. He wrapped the rope around hard biceps and pulled Zechs's arms forward a little then wrapped several wraps around each arm. Then he bent Zechs forward and helped him rest his upper body on the mat. This left him with his rear raised, chest on his thighs, feet under him.

Wufei sat back and took time to admire his lover. Zechs was a beautiful man, strong muscled and clean limbed, with a martial artists build.

"'Fei?"

"Just looking. You're so beautiful. And so . . . mine."

Zechs sighed. "Yes. Thank you. Next?"

"Present yourself. I'm going to cane you. Then I'm going to fuck you til you scream"

Zechs shivered. "Please. Oh, yes please."

Zechs arranged himself as best he could so that his buttocks were presented for his flogging. He was careful to make sure that Wufei wouldn't hit his feet by mistake. He didn't want to be limping because of a bruised foot.

"Ready?"

"Yes, sir"

Wufei flexed the cane to get the feel of it in his muscles then he brought it down on Zechs's exposed rear. The blow was barely more than a tap. Zechs made an enquiring noise.

"Hold still"

Zechs settled in for a long session. He knew what was coming now.

_Tap_

_tap_

_tap_

_Whack_. The last blow was harder than the first three.

_Tap_

_tap_

_tap_

_whack_

_Tap_

_tap_

_tap_

_whack_

Zechs whimpered softly, his backside was warming and the last blow of the series raised a welt.

"Good?"

"Oh, yes. More, please."

Wufei continued to cane Zechs each series of four lashes delivered to a different spot. He wanted to warm the flesh then raise a welt, not bruise or cut Zechs.

Zechs endured his caning with a minimum of sound, only an occasional groan or whimper. But finally he couldn't take anymore.

"Oh, please."Zechs mumbled something in German.

Wufei delivered one final smack. "English please."

"Yes, please. No more. I . . . please."

Wufei ran a hand over Zechs and judged the warmth of his skin. "I think enough. Yes."

Wufei lifted Zechs into his arms and held him for a moment. He wiped the tears off his face with the palms of his hands and waited for him to collect himself a little. He didn't want him to come too far down yet.

When Wufei put Zechs back on his knees, he helped him reposition himself. Then he picked up one final thing from the edge of the mat.

Zechs hung heavy between his legs, oozing heavily. His testicles were tight against his body. Wufei took them in his hand and pulled gently but firmly, pulling them away from Zechs.

"Do you need help?"

"Yes. I'll blow the second you enter me."

Wufei snapped a cock ring around the base of Zechs's sex and made sure it was tight. It wouldn't be on long enough to interfere significantly with his circulation. Then he slicked his fingers.

"Hard and fast. Please."

Wufei smacked Zechs on the rear. "You'll take it the way I give it."

"Ow! Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

Wufei slid one finger into Zechs and carefully probed for a moment feeling the slick inner muscles flex and grasp at him. As he moved the finger around, he stroked that spot that his people called the jewel in the rose. Zechs yelped then started begging. Wufei continued what he was doing as if he couldn't hear Zechs. He knew that it drove him to the very edge.

Zechs tried to push back to gain the friction he craved and earned himself a hard spank instead. Wufei offered him two choices, be still or be caned. Zechs groaned, "You're killing me."

"No one ever died of frustration. It's good for you. Be still, I say."

"Yes, sir." Zechs settled back into position, sulking a little, which earned him another smack.

After he'd settled, Wufei inserted two fingers and began the process of readying Zechs to take him. He might cane him til he cried, even use a strap, but Wufei wouldn't hurt his lover in that way. Zechs needed punishment then pleasure, Wufei didn't intend to confuse the two.

"Ready?"

Zechs groaned, "No . . . please. Oh . . . I don't know. Please."

Wufei slid three fingers in and spread them, holding them open he pulled them half way out and then began to rotate his hand holding Zechs open, waiting for the tight muscles to relax. Zechs whimpered and groaned louder. Wufei released his fingers suddenly then stabbed them into Zechs finding his jewel. Zechs yelled, then nearly collapsed. Wufei made sure that he was open and slick then knelt behind Zechs. Grasping his hips he entered him in one smooth hard push making Zechs groan loudly.

Wufei pulled out making sure to rub over that spot again. Zechs saw stars and, as he admitted later, screamed like a girl.

Wufei set up a pace that was slow enough that they both wouldn't go off too soon but fast enough that each of them received the stimulation they craved. Zechs accompanied this with a series of yelps, moans, and pleas for more that got louder by the second. Wufei forgot his dignity enough to yell right along with him.

Zechs wriggled, struggling against his bonds as best he could. "Please, Wufei. Please, I can't take any more. Give me release. Please."

Wufei reached under Zechs and unlatched the cock ring, grasping his turgid flesh he stroked in time with his thrusts. They both exploded, Zechs howled like a wolf, Wufei gave a kei that rang the rafters.

They both collapsed in a heap, Zechs helpless to save himself. Wufei quickly rolled off him, pulling out a bit roughly.

"I'm sorry. Did that hurt you? Let me help you."

Zechs sighed, "I'm fine. Rest a minute. Not like I'm going anywhere."

Wufei dragged himself to his knees, exclaiming, "I'm not resting. Don't be foolish." He leaned to the edge of the mats and fetched a knife. When he reached to cut the ropes, Zechs grumbled, "don't do that. These are nice. I can wait until you can untie me."

Wufei looked at Zechs for a moment then started untying him. It didn't take as long as either one of them thought.

Zechs cuddled into Wufei's arms and sighed.

"Thank you. I feel much better."

Wufei just grunted and suggested they take themselves to the bed.

Duo sighed. "Can you hear that?"

Heero nodded against the pillow. "Yeah, Zechs gets a little noisy."

"I don't mind that. But . . . you do realize that it's slightly scary that we have the most normal sex life of the four of us."

Heero thought about that for a moment. "You know, you're right."

Very short, mostly lemon. I'm posting this just like this so that those who aren't interested in yaoi can read without missing anything.


	37. Gearing Up: Part I

The Price 37

Gearing up. Pt I

Betaed by Skippyscatt

The next morning was interesting in a frantic sort of way. Heero started gathering intel. Never mind that Une had sent him everything she had. He was doing the job again himself. Duo disappeared for most of the morning and no one wanted to know what he'd been doing. Zechs spent the morning soothing ruffled feathers and Wufei helped him as best he could. They also made arrangements for their transport to the site. Heero called a short meeting just before lunch. He asked for reports from everyone and was satisfied with what he heard.

"Zechs, I'm making you liaison between us and the on site authorities. Wufei. Will you please research the local laws? Make sure we don't violate some obscure regulation. We don't need the hassle. Duo . . . just keep Shinigami on a leash. Let's get going."

They packed one duffle bag each and headed for the airport. Duo found it amusing that airplanes were still the preferred mode of long distance travel.

When they entered the airport, they hit their first snag. Heero wasn't allowed on the plane until he was strip searched. No one would explain exactly why.

Heero followed the men into the small strip search room and waited for them to decide what happened next.

"I'm not touching him. You do it."

The smaller man shook his head. "Do I look nuts to you? I don't know who set this up, but I'm not putting my foot in someone else's shit."

Heero cleared his throat. "What is going on? If you explain it to me, maybe we can figure out something that makes us all . . . at least a little less miserable. What do you say?"

The bigger of the two put his back to the door. The smaller sighed and rubbed his head.

"I say . . . let's go for it . . . ok, here's the skinny. Some asshole has decided that all you Gundam pilots are persona non grata. The airline higher ups, not ESUN. And that's in direct conflict with ESUN regulations. You've all completed your various sentences and have clear records. So . . . it's my job if I don't search you. But I really don't want to do it and neither does Charlie. So . . ."

Heero just shrugged. "You're supposed to look for weapons? Or contraband?"

"Don't know. No one said what we're looking for. Just to search you."

Heero nodded. "It's just harassment. I'm used to it. Here."

Heero started stripping by putting his hand gun on the table at one side of the room. Then he took off his shirt, weapons harness and t-shirt. He bent to unzip his boots and heard a soft gasp.

"Something?"

"Jesus, fuck me, boy. What the hell happened and why didn't you have repairs done."

Heero looked over his shoulder at the taller man, whose name tag said 'Josephson.' "Remember I self-destructed and we didn't have access to hospitals and full medical facilities. I'll get them fixed someday."

Charlie grimaced. "I got a text. Hang on."

Charlie read the text then grunted. "You're supposed to be in some sort of uniform?"

"Not anymore. It was a requirement of my parole."

Josephson snorted. "So . . . we get the shit patrol because some ass hole can't read paperwork. And . . ." he focused on the things on the table. "Hell on a half shell."

Heero shrugged. "You should . . . or maybe shouldn't see what Duo keeps in his hair."

He started to unzip his boots again but Charlie stopped him. "That's enough. We know what we need to know. You're not carrying any contraband. Nothing you're not supposed to have. Get dressed and get out of here. I've got a report to make . . . to some people who 'need to know'."

Heero put his clothing back on and tucked things away. He nodded to the two men and went back to Duo.

"What was that all about?"

Heero explained watching as Duo turned white with rage, Wufei alarmingly red for the same reason, and Zechs dialed his phone.

After Zechs completed his call, they hurried to the gate for their departure. It would take approximately fourteen hours to get to where Relena was being held. Unless they missed their plane.

At this rate they just might. Their next hold up was at the boarding gate. They had e-tickets but there was no conformation. So they had to wait while the boarding guard checked in his computer to see if they were paid, they were. Then he asked for their carry on and check through bags. They didn't have any check through, only carry on.

This seemed to upset the man for some reason. He made a quick call to someone who told him to hold them.

"Step aside, please."

Zechs ground his teeth ready to argue, Wufei pulled at his arm.

"Come aside. We'll do something else."

Heero snarled at the man then clutched at Duo.

"Look, we got to get to our destination soon. You let us on that plane."

"See here, young man. I don't care where you think you have to be. You're not boarding until I'm sure you're safe."

Duo shook Heero off and got in the man's face. "We're not safe. We're Gundam pilots. We have business to take care of and you're holding up production."

Wufei sighed. That was all it needed, Duo in a confrontation with some bureaucratic tight ass.

"Duo, no. we don't need this. We'll find another way. Come away from him."

Duo narrowed his eyes at Wufei. "We have to be on that plane. We'll lose at least six hours if we're not."

Duo turned to the guard. "Look, if we miss that plane, we're all screwed. And I'll take it out of your hide. Seriously." The guard stepped back from Duo like he was hot. The look on Duo's face promised quick and deadly retribution if the problem wasn't corrected at once.

"My supervisor is on the way. You kids won't get anywhere by making that kind of threat."

Heero whispered to Zechs. "Not a threat." Zechs shuddered. Duo sounded so cold, not at all like the laughing prankster he was used to.

The supervisor came up just then, took one look at the group and had a fit. "What the hell is the hold up. They need to be on that plane and ready to take off in two minutes. Get going."

The guard stuttered about them only having carry on and was told that he was about half a hair away from losing his job.

"Those kids as you call them are Gundam pilots on their way to some where for some thing I don't know about and I don't want to. Just board them and get that plane in the sky."

The guard checked them through, stamping their boarding passes with shaking hands. Zechs took a moment to insist that their tickets be cleared through to the other airport at once. The supervisor promised to take care of it himself.

The steward showed them to their seats in first class. As they settled in there was some grumbling from a few people. No one seemed to be too upset, it was just the general grumbling of people when such things happened.

Zechs took their carry ons and tucked each bag into the overhead nearest to their seats. They had been seated together at Wufei's demand. Which he was beginning to regret. They needed to be spread through the plane, in case something happened. But then again, if one of them had an anxiety attack they needed to be together. Wufei hugged the sudden pain in his stomach.

The stewardess started her safety demonstration which distracted the others. Duo snickered softly through most of the demo while Heero made rude remarks just loud enough to make Zechs smack him in the head.

"Stop that. You'll scare the civilians. We don't need an incipient panic on our hands."

Duo grumbled and settled back in the seat. "I will say I like this seating arrangement."

Their seats were facing each other two by two. They were very wide and comfortable. There were blankets and pillows, cup holders and convenience trays. Which were all in the appropriate upright and locked positions. Duo hissed to Heero that it wouldn't make much difference if they really crashed as the latches were 'cheap plastic shit'. Heero rather grimly told him to shut up.

But Duo was nervous and when he was nervous he chattered. Wufei groaned and burrowed his face into Zechs.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Motor mouth Maxwell. I hate this. Really. You know I have control issues. I wish I was flyin' this tin can. I hate being in someone else's control. This sucks so big time. The suckitude is . . . well sucky. Damn it all. Heero . . . I think I'm gonna barf. Really."

Heero just handed Duo a barf bag and gritted his teeth. Wufei asked the steward for some white soda. When he told Wufei that no drinks were available until after take off Wufei glared at him and announced that he was not cleaning up after Duo. The steward eyed Duo and got the soda.

Zechs gave Duo an astonished look and hissed, "We haven't even taken off. We're only on the approach. What's he going to be like on takeoff?"

Wufei sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Stone cold silent. He'll probably bend the arm rest. Then he'll be fine. If I don't kill him first."

"Well, how the hell did he get here without a scene."

"We came in by shuttle. He's not bad in a shuttle. The shuttle pilots will let him sit in the navigator's seat."

Zechs bit his lip. "Really? That's not good. Is it?"

Heero flinched as Duo rounded on Zechs. But Duo just snarked at him.

"What? I'm too young? I'm a freekin' Gundam pilot. I can figure orbitals in my head. You got a problem?"

Zechs shook his head. "Not yet. But if you don't calm down, we will . . . stop acting like a spoiled brat."

Duo's mouth fell open then he started laughing. "Well, I guess that told me." He took a sip of his soda and settled in the seat again. "Sorry. I guess I was getting a little out of hand."

The steward, well aware that Duo was beginning to get too loud, came to their pod and asked, "Is there a problem here? How may I help you?"

Zechs drew himself up to his impressive height. "Not yet. But this holding is getting on Colonel Maxwell's nerves and I might add everyone else's. What's the hold up?"

"I do apologize, sir. The traffic is bad. We're in the approach lane and readying to taxi any moment. Please be patient."

Duo snarled silently, he needed to be moving, now. The others set themselves to comforting and calming him. Heero thought Wufei had to be some kind of saint to have put up with this while he was gone. Wufei thanked his ancestors that Heero was here to bear the brunt of Shinigami on a rampage. Zechs did his best to help both of them help Duo.

Finally they took off and Wufei was right. Duo bent the armrest up by a good two inches. Zechs felt a cold chill, Duo wasn't as strong as Heero, but he was a great deal stronger than he had any right to be. He silently cursed the scientists who'd created soldiers out of children.

After his agitation, Duo was exhausted and fell asleep with his head on Heero's shoulder. Heero soon followed with Wufei nodding in his seat.

"'Fei? What?"

Wufei yawned, "Mission mode. You'll find us all falling asleep at a moment's notice. There were times we didn't sleep more than two or three hours for days at a stretch. So we'll sleep whenever we can. Oh . . . really watch Duo or he'll eat everything he lays hands on. He'll get sick, puke and be a bear. Heero is the other way around. Make sure he eats. And gets enough to drink."

Zechs stroked a wisp of hair out of Wufei's eye and thought, 'What about you, my love? What do I do for you?'

The first class steward leaned against his station, watching as Doris, the second class stewardess, pushed her cart up the aisle toward him. She was new and looked very perky in her uniform. She smiled at him over the cart and then handed a business man his drink. When she reached the end of the aisle, he helped her park the cart in its lockdown.

"Here. Fill two bins with bottled water. Lots of people don't really want juice or soda, but if that's all there is, they'll drink it. Then we got traffic to the pot." He handed the girl bottles and she stuffed them in the bins. "Did you see that long haired guy? He's nuts. Better keep your eyes on him. Jumpy as hell. Then just falls asleep."

Doris nodded, "Yeah, I saw him. Didn't get a really good look. But he's so young, it's probably just nerves. Hasn't flown much. You know, Frank."

Frank shook his head. "Something about that guy. I don't know what it is. He just . . . seems familiar somehow."

Frank reached out and picked up his seating chart. He flipped through it and eyed the names next to the seat numbers for that pod.

"Oh, shit! Duo Maxwell, Heero Yuy, Chang Wufei and Zechs Merquise? Fuck me."

Doris gave a little squeal. "Really? Let me see. Really? Oh, my. War heroes." She got a stupid look on her face. Frank shuddered. War heroes, or criminals? He didn't know, but he decided to keep a special eye on them.

After they finished refilling the cart, Frank took it into the first class section. As he made his way to the front of the plane, he checked on his charges. Most of them were either reading or watching the in-flight movie. A few were doing work on laptops. Some accepted drinks or snacks.

"Can I get you . . . oh. Excuse me."

Frank realized too late that three of the four men were asleep, furious sky blue eyes silenced him. Instead of trying to decide what they might like, Frank simply put a selection of drinks in the holders and went on. That look had nearly frozen his blood.

Heero opened one eye and glared, at what he wasn't sure. Zechs whispered softly. "Go back to sleep. I've got it."

Duo murmured softly then settled back. Wufei woke totally and Zechs patted his hand where it lay on his chest. "Go back to sleep, Mausi. I . . . I'm sorry."

Wufei sat up and took a thermal cup of tea from its holder.

"Why do you call me that?"

"I always called my girlfriends that. It just seems to slip out. I'm sorry."

Wufei sipped at his tea for a moment. "I see. I hope you'll work a little harder. I really don't want to give Duo more ammunition than we have too. You'll see a change in him, not for the better. Unless Heero can get him in hand. On missions sometimes I seriously considered breaking his jaw just to shut him up."

"That bad?"

"You have no idea."

Zechs shuddered. "Well, damn."

Duo nuzzled his head under Heero's chin, moaning softly. "Noooo. No no. Heero please."

Heero stroked Duo's cheek. "I'm here. I'm here. What do you want?"

Duo grumbled softly. "Don't go. Stay. Please."

Heero realized that Duo was still asleep and dreaming. Not a very pleasant dream either.

"I can't do this alone. Please."

"Duo, Wufei . . ."

"Nononono. Don't wan' Wu' wan' you. Stay."

Wufei realized what was happening and touched Heero on the arm. "Wake him up now. He'll have a screaming nightmare if you don't."

Heero shook Duo gently. "Wake up. Duo, wake up." Duo mumbled, but Heero shook him insistently until he opened his eyes.

"Holy shit! I hate that dream. Heero, don't you ever go away again. I can't stand it. I couldn't do that again. Never again. Please, swear. Even if you're lying through your teeth."

Heero hugged Duo hard. "Nothing short of death will make me leave you again. Nothing. I swear."

Duo hugged Heero hard back and then pushed him away. "I feel like crap. Is there any coffee? I need caffeine bad."

Heero reached out blindly and Zechs put a cup of the coffee the steward had left into it. Wufei handed over several packets of powdered creamer and sugar. Duo tried to open the coffee but his hands were shaking. Heero dosed it up for him and handed it back to him. He had to help him get the cup to his lips.

After gulping several steaming swallows, Duo handed the nearly empty cup back to Zechs gasping 'more'. Zechs plucked another cup from the holders and fixed it, then handed it to Duo who sipped at it.

"Man, I hate that dream, you're just slipping away. Fading into nothing and I can't stop it. Fuck. Give me something I can shoot any day."

Heero twined his fingers with Duo's. "I'll never go away again. Our love is too precious a jewel. I . . ."

Duo eyed Heero. "Um . . . Heero? Where the hell . . . I mean it's nice but . . ."

Heero flushed. "I'm so not good at romantic stuff. Fuck it."

Duo grinned. "Oh, sweet as our love. And . . . never mind. Thanks for trying, but don't. Ok?"

Heero grinned back. "Ok. I thought it would be nice, but I'm not good a that sort of stuff. At all."

Wufei smiled at Zechs then whispered softly. "Wondered what he was doing. That bit with the whistle nearly cracked me up. But he's trying. And he's getting much better." He yelped when Zechs pinched him on the thigh, causing both Duo and Heero to stare at him.

Duo spoke first. "What the hell? 'Fei, you ok?"

Wufei rubbed his offended limb, "I'll be fine. As long as my great lump of a lover doesn't do that again."

Heero snickered into Duo's hair. Duo swatted at him. Heero waggled his eyebrows in a comically lecherous way and stage whispered. "Wanna join the mile-high club, little boy?"

Duo moaned "Oh, god. Heero, there's kids here."

Heero looked around. "Where?"

Duo pointed to himself with a thumb. "And stop that. You'll make me snort my coffee."

Zechs was severely tempted to smack Heero on the back of the head, but decided it would only add to the chaos.

When the steward came to ask them to keep it down, he made the mistake of leaning into the pod before anyone knew that he was there. He wound up facing three guns and a very large knife. He retreated quickly and went for the air marshal.

The air marshal asked for the seating assignments and when he got it, he took one look at the names and sighed. "I'll go talk to them. But if I was you, I'd just be really careful to make a noise before I stuck my face in theirs."

The marshal cleared his throat softly before he squatted in the aisle. "Hey, guys. How's it hangin'?"

"To the left, man, to the left. What's up?" Duo took over the contact without a thought.

"Well, hate to bring this up. But you're scarin' the staff. Not good. You make that steward any more nervous and he's gonna forget to make coffee. That'll piss me off, big time. Ya know?"

Heero looked grim, but Duo just nodded his head. "Yeah, man, sorry. I'm all freaked out. I don't like not flyin' myself. Gives me the fidgets. Captain Whoever is a good pilot, I'm sure. But . . . not in my control and it makes me all twitchy."

The marshal nodded. "Yeah, me too. Um . . . name's Chester. Last not first. You got to marry me to find that out. Wanna see if the captain will let you into the cockpit?"

Duo though for a second. "Naw, just bug him. But thanks. It's a personal problem more than anything. Say, we could scrooch around and tell each other lies. How 'bout it?"

Chester thought about it for a second. "Sorry, better not. I'm on duty. But thanks. My kid is going to have fits. Got to meet some Gundam pilots and can't prove it. He'll be disappointed."

Wufei shifted around until he could get into his pocket. "Do you have a new data chip?"

"Sure thing. I keep several. Sometimes I need one for reports and such. I keep fresh ones so I don't wind up giving the department my personal files and pictures by accident. I. . ." he fished around in his own pockets for a moment. "Yeah, here."

Wufei inserted it into his camera and took pictures of the man with Duo, Heero, and Zechs then let Zechs take pictures of him with the smiling marshal. He looked so happy Duo couldn't help but ask about his son.

"The kid's mecha crazy. I keep telling him that mecha aren't needed anymore. There's no reason for them."

"Oh, there's plenty of reasons for mecha. Outerspace construction depends on them. Retrieval operations. And there's so much unexpended ordinance out in space that we'll be finding stuff for centuries. And there's mine fields too. You better do your research or you'll have that kid going into the wrong field just to get into a suit."

Chester looked startled, then sad. He sighed, got up, and shook hands with them all. "Thanks. I got work to do now. I'm glad I met you. Just . . . um, keep it to a dull roar. Ok?"

The nodded and gave him assurances that they'd try to keep it down.

The other passengers weren't taking all this fuss lying down. They called the steward, complained, glared and threatened to talk to the captain. The steward wasn't as rushed as you might think as there were only 20 seats in first class arranged in four pods of five seats. There were two pods on each side of the plane with a wide aisle between. After the pods was business class then economy. With partitions and galleys between each class. This body style had been designed in AC 009 and hadn't changed much since. It was functional, cheap to build, and easy to maintain. All the planes came from WEI.

The pods held a total of 20 people but that didn't mean that there were 20 people in the pods. On this flight there were a total of seven other people; three in one pod and two in each of the remaining two pods. All were older, business men with companies of their own or just rich people traveling for various reasons.

The First Officer came back to check out the situation, he was waylaid by a fat man who insisted that the plane be landed at the next airport and the four men put off. He began by asking 'Do you know who I am?' and spent several minutes rambling and making a nuisance of himself. The First officer finally told him to return to his seat, that he would be told what was going on when he, the officer, figured it out himself.

He was stopped again by an elderly woman who started in whining that if she'd wanted to put up with juvenile behaviors, she'd have brought her grandson. She was given the same answer as the fat man; a polite version of 'Sit down, be quiet and let me do my job.' She sat and continued complaining to a meek looking woman, obviously a paid, and much put upon, companion.

Heero fielded the officer neatly by asking if there was a problem, but his look said there'd better not be. The first officer was a man made of stern stuff, he didn't quail from Heero's glare.

"I don't think there is. All I need to know is if the young man is going to freak out and try to open a door or something equally stupid."

Duo made a rude noise. Heero just poked him in the ribs. "Shut up, this is your fault after all." Heero turned to the officer. "I doubt it. He's spacer born and Sweeper trained. Not to mention being Gundam 02. He's got lack of control issues. He's not flying this bus, so he's uncomfortable. That comes out as loud and obnoxious. Sorry for the trouble. I'll sit on him, if I have too."

The first officer smiled. "Oh, I see. Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't we have Captain Maxwell come up to the cockpit and look around?" he turned to Duo. "Maybe you'll feel better up there where you can see what's going on. And we'd like to be able to say we had a Gundam pilot on board. Good barroom gossip."

Duo considered for a moment, he knew he was getting out of control. He also knew that Wufei wasn't above sedating him if necessary. He didn't want that, he'd be groggy for hours, hours they couldn't afford. So he accepted the invitation to the cockpit with a grin and a poke at Wufei. Zechs snorted and caught his hand before it connected.

"Watch it there. My boyfriend."

Wufei couldn't help the small self-satisfied smirk he gave Duo. Duo just winked and followed the first officer.

When the man opened the security door, Duo automatically memorized the code. He didn't even remember he'd done it.

The captain turned around leaning over the arm of his chair. "I hear you have a problem with me flying this bus."

Duo gave the captain a shame faced grin. "Not you particularly. It's just that you're not me. I . . ."

The captain raised his eyebrows. "Son, you're a little young to be wanting to fly this crate."

The copilot turned around just then and gave a decidedly girly squeak. "Oh, shit. That's Duo Maxwell. He's probably more qualified than we are."

Captain Daniels turned to stare at the copilot. "You're kidding. That's Shinigami? That skinny kid?"

Duo grimaced. He was really getting sick of that, but he didn't say anything. He wanted to sit in the cockpit too much.

"Um . . . can I sit in the navigator's chair?"

"Sure. We don't have one this flight. The first officer, Mr. Flay, is sitting two seats."

Duo pulled down the Navigator's seat and absently checked the instrumentation. "You sure that's a good idea? I mean, it's your flight and if the company allows it, I'm sure . . . but I wouldn't do it."

The captain turned his attention back to his instruments while the co-captain smiled and replied. "Well, this is a commercial flight not a combat mission. We have plenty of time to take care of things. And auto pilot helps a lot. Oh, here, have some cheese puffs, my wife made them."

Duo eyed the things with a very jaundiced eye. "Um . . . no thanks. I don't want to spoil my appetite for . . . supper? What the hell will we be eating?"

"It's technically lunch, but with the time zones, it's more like supper. Beef tips in burgundy sauce over noodles. I don't blame you. I wouldn't eat those things either, but Gloria will ask. She's a good gal, puts up with that nut job. Wouldn't want to hurt her feelings. So I'll have one. Or four."

The captain laughed as his friend handed him four of the things on a paper napkin. He put them on his knee and held the makeshift plate with one hand and ate with the other. Duo grinned at Captain Daniels.

"Better you than me, buddy. I don't like trying to eat and fly at the same time. Never worked very well for me."

"Yeah, but no one's shooting at us." Co-captain Adams settled in to trade war stories.

While they gossiped and traded stories, Captain Daniels and Captain Adams finished off the cheese puffs between them, Mr. Flay dropped in to get his share before 'those snack snatchers' finished all of them. Duo was glad, as the soggy looking treats didn't appeal to him at all.

Finally, the steward came in to tell Duo that he was about to serve. Duo thanked him, made his excuses and went back to his seat, most of his fears soothed.

The food was served and they all agreed that while it wasn't five star, it was very good. The noodles were just a little over done, but the beef was tender and the sauce excellent. They discussed the food, the weather, Wufei's haiku, Heero's music, Zechs's split ends (he insisted that he didn't have any) and Duo's recipe for fudge. Anything to keep Duo's mind off the fact that he wasn't flying.

They examined the offerings of in-flight movies and rejected them all. Duo sneered at some, Heero refused to watch 'chick flicks' and Wufei and Zechs agreed that the classic ones weren't. That quashed that rather quickly. They wound up falling asleep, Zechs and Wufei in one set of seats, and Heero and Duo in the other. The single seat at the back of the pod wound up full of oddments of clothing and shoes.

They slept for several hours. The flight lasted fourteen hours, why they hadn't taken a shuttle was easy. The logistics hadn't worked out. They'd actually have lost time waiting for one, clearing atmosphere, entering low orbit, reentry and landing. It was faster in flight time but all the other stuff made it take twenty hours instead of fourteen, and they'd be out of communication for longer than they liked.

Zechs woke several times and checked on the others, never realizing that each of the others did the same thing. Heero was awake when he felt the odd change in the flight of the airplane.

"Huh? Wa'? 'Ro? What's goin' on?"

Heero patted Duo on the shoulder. "Don't know. May be nothing."

Wufei blinked himself awake and poked Zechs. "Something's up."

"You sure?"

"No but Duo is. He wouldn't have woken up other wise."

Zechs got up to use the facilities. As he made his way down the aisle, he felt the plane buck in an updraft. Not good.

Heero, Wufei and Duo eyed each other, there was no way the steward was going to believe them when they said something was wrong. Wufei shrugged. He was the calmest of them all. Zechs wasn't jittery like Duo, but he was tense, and having Heero try was such a bad idea that they didn't even contemplate it.

Wufei approached the steward carefully, he didn't want to come off as some sort of nut.

"Excuse me. Is there a turbulence warning that I missed? The plane feels . . . off."

The steward shook his head. "No, but you're right. I'll check with the captain. Just a moment."

He picked up the phone mounted on the wall and punched the call button. While he was waiting for an answer, he offered Wufei something to drink. Wufei refused, just shaking his head. The steward waited impatiently for an answer, when he didn't get one after an appropriate interval he hung up the phone.

"I don't like that. They're really good about answering fairly quickly. And it's not time for a course correction or anything."

Wufei felt a line of ants march up his spine. He didn't like this.

Heero loomed behind Wufei, he needed to know what was going on. "Report!"

"No one is answering the phone in the cockpit."

"Hn" Heero frowned at the steward, who wondered if he should say or do something. What he wasn't sure.

"Is the entire flight crew in the cockpit?"

"Yes, sir."

Heero dipped his head to hide his eyes. This wasn't looking good at all.

Suddenly the plane dipped, it had hit a micro burst. Things were thrown to the ceiling then the floor, people were dumped from positions of ease onto the floor, into the aisles, and on each other. Women screamed, men shouted, children cried, chaos broke out all over the plane.

"Get control of these people. We'll go up front and see what's going on. Get cracking."

The steward rushed to obey Heero, he knew something was badly wrong, the flight crew was much too responsible to allow something like this to happen.

Zechs, meanwhile, was picking himself up off the floor in business class. He could hear screaming from economy so he went through the curtains to see what was wrong. He found the stewardess laying on the aisle floor with a screaming woman kneeling over her.

"Here, you." Zechs pointed to a man "Get her off." Zechs scooped the screamer up and dumped her into the man's arms. "Keep her quiet. I don't care how. She's upsetting the rest of the passengers."

Zechs knelt to feel for pulse in the stewardess's neck. It was strong and regular, slightly elevated, but so was his. She made a soft sound in her throat. "Stay there until I check you for breaks." Zechs felt her arms and legs, then ran his hands over her rib cage. She grunted in pain but when he felt more thoroughly he decide she was just badly bruised.

"Not broken, just bruised. Can you stand up? I can't see your eyes. I want to check for concussion. If you feel ill, let me know."

The stewardess stood up, Zechs checked her eyes and declared her bruised and scared, but not concussed. She started to check on her passengers and moved slowly down the aisle under Zechs's watchful eye. He was going to stay right here until she was done, in case someone wanted to start something. He needn't have. It took the woman only a few minutes to calm everyone down.

The passengers in business were another matter all together. There were several indignant business types. And they were causing an uproar. The steward was doing his best to calm them but they were adamant. They all wanted to talk to the pilot, now. Never mind that the captain was, under the circumstances, very busy doing something else.

As the poor man tried to get his uncooperative passengers to return to their seats, they tried to get around him to go to the front. Every time he cut one off, another would try an 'end run'. He was rapidly losing control of the situation.

Zechs slipped by and positioned himself in the aisle between business and first class. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited. The steward got all but two of the men to sit down by promising to go check and have the captain come back to talk to them asap. But the others weren't dissuaded so easily.

"Step aside, young man. I want to speak to the captain at once."

Zechs looked down his nose at the shorter man. "I'm sure you do."

"Well?"

"But does he want to speak to you? That seems to be the important question."

"Do you know who I am?"

"No. And I don't particularly care either."

"Excuse me?"

"There's no excuse for you, sir. Sit down."

The man drew himself up to his full height, his compatriots closed in behind him for moral support.

"I will not. We have rights. I demand to see the captain and I demand to know who you are."

They all nodded their heads looking as fierce as four fat business men could.

"I see. My name, sir, is Milliardo Hans Gunter Alberto Zechs Merquise Peacecraft."

"You're . . . you . . . but . . ."

Zechs put all the arrogance of over two hundred years of noble breeding into his expression.

"Yes. Sit."

They sat.

The steward headed for the front, calling all the wait staff to meet in the forward galley.

After a short meeting, they appealed to Zechs to do something. He nodded and gathered the pilots.

"Ok . . . what's going on?"

Heero looked at Duo, then Wufei. They nodded at him. "Something is wrong with the flight crew. Duo will get us into the cockpit. Zechs, you keep the passengers under control and find the flight marshal. He should be here. Wufei, you check the passengers for injuries that need more than first aid, then come to the cockpit. I'll back Duo up."

So Duo and Heero headed for the cockpit. Wufei started checking passengers and Zechs followed him passing out soothing words and genial smiles.

Duo knocked on the door and called to the crew by name. No one answered, but he heard a groan. He knocked harder and called again. When he didn't get an answer, he turned to Heero.

"You hear that? You try knocking. You sound like Oz coming through."

Heero pounded on the door until it shook. No answer, except what sounded like another groan of pain.

"Ok, that's it. I'm kicking it."

Duo caught Heero's arm. "Better not. The navigator's chair is really close to the door. You might kick the door into someone. Let me think. I . . .well, shit."

"What?"

"I saw the first officer open the door. Let me see . . . u m . . . the first number . . . ." Duo tapped at the key pad and the door opened on the second try. "There. On my count . . . "

They both drew their weapons and bracketed the door. "I'll go up." Heero grunted. Duo pushed the door open with his foot and stepped into the cockpit. He pressed the door to the wall with his shoulder and waited while Heero knelt in the aisle checking quickly for any assailant. This took only a second.

There was no assailant or terrorist hijacker, but all three men were nearly comatose in their chairs.

"What the hell? What's wrong with them?"

Duo shook his head. "Don't know."

Heero went to get Wufei while Duo got the plane under control again.

Wufei took one look at the crew and sighed. "Anyone have any idea?" Everyone shook their heads. Wufei checked each member of the crew. They were all comatose, sweaty and feverish. He had them removed to one of the pods. It required moving people around and they objected. Loudly.

Wufei looked down his nose at the whining man. "Would you rather have two of them with you and one with someone else? They could be contagious. I'd rather have them all in one pod with the possible contagion contained. But it's up to you. Do as you please."

The man moved.

After the flight crew was settled in with the economy class stewardess to watch them, Wufei went back to the cockpit. Zechs was left in charge of keeping the passengers calm, Frank silently applauded.

Duo got on the radio and called dispatch. This started a small riot in the tower.

"Listen here. No playing on the radio. How did you get on this frequency?"

Duo patiently explained what was going on. He was surprised when the air traffic controller came back on after a short wait.

"Who are you?"

"Duo Maxwell, and, yes, I am that one. Gundam Pilot 02. I'm flying this bird now."

"All the crew are ill?"

"Yes. We've put them in first class with a stew to take care of them."

"Well, damn. Do you have anyone who can fill in the rest of the crew?"

"Sure do. Gundam Pilots 01, 05, and 06."

"Good. I'm familiar with 01 and 05, but who's 06?"

"Zechs Merquise. Got a problem."

"Fuck yeah. I got a multimillion credit airplane with a down flight crew. I got three minors and one barely legal as a replacement crew. Where do I start?"

Duo held down the mic. button and laughed. Heero poked him and ordered him to pay attention to the business at hand.

The controller gave Duo instructions on course changes and suggested he reset the auto pilot until he was contacted again. Duo dutifully set the auto pilot and then pulled up the pilot's log on the onboard computer. He checked the flight plan, looked for any personal entries that might tell him what was wrong then sighed.

"Well, that was a bust. No notes in the log. Nothing."

Heero rubbed his face. "I'll check around the cockpit. Maybe I can find something. Where's Wufei?"

"Still settling in the crew? Buzz the stew and find out."

Heero buzzed the steward and got an unfamiliar voice.

"Yes? This is Doris speaking. How can I help you?"

"Is Chang Wufei there?"

"No, he's back in business trying to calm some of the passengers down. Mister Merquise is there too. I'm afraid someone started the rumor that the flight crew is dead and the plane doesn't have a pilot."

Duo thanked the woman and looked at Heero. "Well, shit. Now what?"

Heero took a deep breath. "I go out and calm them down."

"Heero . . . oh, shit. Not that look. You'll give them all heart attacks."

Duo smiled at Heero to take the sting out of his words.

Heero shook his head. "Better that than have some fool try to open the door."

Duo muttered 'fuck' and went back to poking around in the onboard computer.

It didn't take Heero long to get the mess straightened out. He went into the class and glared at the worst offender. The man recognized him, made a funny squeaking noise and sat back in his seat. Heero glared at the rest of the passengers, suggested that the next person to be out of their seat without a good excuse might find their relationship with duct tape closer than they'd like and went back to the cockpit taking Wufei with him. Zechs slipped into the lavatory and laughed.

Heero settled into the copilot's seat and started familiarizing himself with the controls. Wufei started searching the cockpit. When he found the Tupperware container he sniffed at the greasy papers inside and snorted.

"Don't these idiots know what a refrigerator is for? Smells bad."

"So the things stink, so what?" Duo didn't have patience for this.

"So, the food is spoiled. It can be spoiled enough to make you sick before it smells."

Heero leaned over and sniffed. "Cheese. Cream cheese. Duo, call in."

"'K. . . . 02 to control."

"Control to 02. What's up?"

"Got an idea what might be wrong with the flight crew. Bad cream cheese. Is that possible?"

"I'll have it checked out. How's everything going?"

"Not too bad. Got the passengers under control. Flight crew is in the hands of someone with some first aid training. And I'm re familiarizing myself with controls as is 01."

"Good. We'll be back to you with info on that cheese."

Duo settled back in the chair and sighed. He'd wanted to fly, but not like this. He wasn't worried about his ability to land the plane, it was all the fuss after that had him worried.

Heero reached over and took Duo's hand.

"What's wrong? You look worried. Is there something else?"

Duo shook his head. "No. We're good here. But there's going to be hell to pay when we land. I bet we run into all kinds of reporters and shit."

Heero shook his head, rubbing his thumb over the back of Duo's hand. "Bet not. Une will take care of it or I miss my bet."

"Hope so. I don't feel like answering a bunch of stupid questions."

Heero shrugged. "I don't either. We'll figure out some way around it. Don't worry. If nothing else we'll all just glare, snarl 'no comment' and keep moving."

Duo grinned at Heero. "Well . . . ok. If you can't dazzle them will brilliance, baffle them with bullshit. Right?"

Heero curled his lip at Duo. "Glare them into submission and if that doesn't work . . . blow them up."

Duo choked on the sip of soda he'd just taken.


	38. Gearing Up: Part II

The Price 38

Gearing up Pt. II

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Duo sighed in relief, they'd just changed from one control tower to another. The change over hadn't been as bad as he'd expected it to be. Evidently someone had done some research. The new traffic controller was unabashedly glad to speak to Duo. Or Heero. He'd even settle for Wufei, if you could call it that.

All he wanted to know were the symptoms the crew displayed. Heero as copilot turned him over to acting First Officer Wufei. Wufei detailed the symptoms and waited to see if there were any more questions. He was told to wait and they would get back to him with a recommended course of treatment. Wufei sighed with relief. He had been worried about taking care of the crew until they reached their destination.

Zechs told the man to sit down for approximately the fifth time. His questions were becoming insistent and frankly quite bothersome. Other passengers were beginning to wonder the same things.

He decided to find out what was going on. Most of the questions were actually quite intelligent, if not couched in the most intelligent of ways. The one thing they couldn't afford on a plane this size was a panic. The plane was a wide body hemi. Business class alone held sixty people. The entire plane from first class, through business, economy and tourist held over four hundred souls.

Zechs tapped on the cockpit door, when Wufei answered the first thing he did was kiss him breathless. "I know you're busy. But . . . Wufei. Mmmm."

Wufei kissed back then gently put Zechs off him. "What's up? You didn't come up here just to play tonsil hockey with me."

"Questions. I need answers, the natives are getting restless and I really don't blame them."

Wufei nodded. "Coffee. Questions. Come in and sit."

Wufei handed Zechs a thermal cup of coffee and waited while he had a moment. Then Zechs asked his questions. Wufei answered them easily and smiled as Zechs took his time finishing his coffee.

"How's it going?"

"Not too bad." Zechs handed Wufei his cup. "Could be worse, I guess. Most of the people in economy were satisfied with 'we have experienced people from first class in charge.' The business class is giving me fits. They're all upper middle management and think they're someone. First class can see what's going on and they're staying out of the way." Zechs rubbed his face and asked plaintively. "Can I please shoot someone?"

"No, love, won't do any good. It'll just scare everyone and probably puncture the skin. Duo won't like it."

Zechs sighed, heaved himself to his feet and grumbled. "Didn't think so. But a man has to have dreams."

Wufei sympathized and remarked that if they got too out of hand they could always send Heero back to keep order and let Zechs take copilot.

"Can't, I'm not qualified. I'm mobile suit only."

Wufei made a rueful face. "Sorry."

Zechs squared his shoulders, put on a mournful face. "Into the fray the four hundred."

Wufei laughed, shoved him out the door and shut it, saying, "Overly dramatic, I think. Go on."

Zechs was pounced on the minute he entered the class.

"Silence! Now!" Zechs glared at the men until they all sat down again.

"I'll only say this once. And I won't tolerate interruptions. If you have questions, hold them until after my announcement." He waited for a moment until everyone settled down to listen. "The people in charge are Gundam Pilots. They're all qualified to handle this plane. And don't give me grief about that. You want to pilot, prove you're qualified. I'll find a 'chute and see you on the ground. As to why we don't land sooner. Simple . . . no airport large enough to handle this plane safely is closer than our original destination. So . . . we keep flying.

"As to whether the crew is contagious. We don't think so. We're keeping them semi-quarantined in first class just to be sure. The consensus is that they have food poisoning. Now any questions?"

There didn't seem to be so Zechs returned to the crew's tiny ready room and settled in to wait for the next crisis.

The stewards and stewardesses served the meal, handed out pillows and drinks. They did their best to give the illusion that the flight was normal. Most people settled in and did their best to believe them.

A few just couldn't stand the tension. The first one to break was a woman in economy. She got the screaming heeby-jeebies.

"Noooo! Nononono. Let me out. I have to get out of here. Open the door and let me out."

She jumped up and headed for the nearby door, the man seated behind her managed to tackle her and hold her until Zechs and the steward could make their way to them. The other passengers stayed in their seats, staring wide eyed. Zechs pried the woman out of the man's arms and held her until the steward could give her a shot. The air injection system hissed and she screamed and cried until the sedative took effect. Then she collapsed. Zechs turned her over to the steward, who carried her into the back of the plane and settled her in the stewardess' chair which doubled as a restraint chair. Zechs thanked the man for his help, shaking his calloused hand and slapping him on the back.

"Not a problem. I really don't want to be sucked out the door." He turned pleading eyes to Zechs. "We going to land ok, my lord?"

Zechs nodded, patting the man gently on the shoulder. "Yes, we are. They may be young but they're good. Maxwell wouldn't claim to be able to do something if he couldn't. It will be fine. I swear."

The man nodded, satisfied, and sat back in his seat.

The next bout of hysteria was even uglier. One of the business men decided that his small engine certification entitled him to barge into the cockpit and demand to take over.

Heero greeted him at the door with a glare and a gun.

"What do you want?"

"Let me in. I have a certification. I'll fly this plane. You're just a bunch of kids. This isn't the same as a simulation video game."

Heero lifted the muzzle of his side arm just enough to get the man's attention on it.

"I'm sure. And it's not a small, single engine either. You need to know how to handle six throttles at once. Go sit back in your seat."

A bum's rush hadn't worked on Heero when he was seven, much less seventeen. So, when the man tried it, Heero twisted his arm behind him, shoved him into the wall and hissed in his ear. "I don't like you. People I don't like usually get hurt. This time I'm only telling you . . . you don't want to mess with me. Sit in your seat like a good boy and nothing bad will happen. Cause any more trouble and I'll set the air marshal on you."

The man sat back in his seat, grumbling about his bruised arm and dignity. Heero looked around for the air marshal and couldn't see him. He hadn't thought much about the man, being too busy flying the plane. Now he wondered where the man was. He looked up Zechs and asked him, Zechs didn't have a clue.

"Find him. I want to talk to him."

Zechs just nodded and started looking. He finally found the man in the bathroom at the back of the plane. He was passed out cold with the same symptoms the crew had. He'd evidently been the recipient of some of the cheese puffs. Zechs got a man from the economy class to help get Chester to the pod with the flight crew.

Heero opened the door, the light tap signaling that Zechs wanted in.

"Found the air marshal. He's sick too."

Heero nodded. "I was afraid of that. Where did you find him?"

"The loo at the back of economy. He's out cold. Probably went in there to vomit and passed out. Had a hell of a time getting the door open. He was wedged against it."

Heero rubbed his face. "Have Wufei take a look at him. 'Fei's in the crew room."

Zechs nodded and stepped back so Heero could close the door. He tapped at the ready room door.

"'Fei. I found the air marshal, he's sick too."

Wufei stood up and sighed. "I wasn't aware he was missing. I assumed he was taking care of business. Very remiss. Damn."

Wufei gave the poor man a once over and opined that he was as well as could be expected. "At least he's not as badly dehydrated as the others. Miss. . . ." Wufei got a look at Doris's name tag. "Doris. Please see if you can't get some liquids into them. And, thank you for helping take care of them."

Doris flushed with pleasure. "I don't mind. I want to be a nurse, but I can't afford the schooling yet. I've been studying on my own. And . . . well, I consider it an honor to help you."

Wufei smiled rather uncomfortably. "Thank you. If you notice any change in their condition. Call me at once. Use the intercom. Excuse me."

Wufei returned to the cockpit for the course correction.

Duo contacted the tower and settled in for another round of 'you're too young' instead he got an ex-OZie.

"Which one are you?"

"Gundam 02. That a problem?"

"Nope, reassuring actually. I know you guys are excellent pilots. Got course corrections to do. Wind drift is . . ." the rest of the conversation was interesting to Heero and Wufei but anyone else would have been blind sided by strings of numbers and mumbo-jumbo. Duo made adjustments to the instruments, Wufei consulted charts and fiddled with calipers and a calculator.

"We're going to come in short of fuel. Not way short but we better watch it. This head wind is a killer."

Duo eyed the fuel gauges. "I don't like it. They always run themselves short. Lighten the load blah blah blah. You'd think they didn't grow corn anymore. Well, we have what we have."

Heero checked Wufei's calculations and came to the same conclusion he had. "I don't like this at all. We are going to be short of fuel, if we make one mistake, we're going to be flying on vapors. Why do they do that?"

Wufei made an irritable sound in his throat. "Economy. The less fuel in the tanks the less weight. You know the drill after that. It makes sense to bean counters."

They all sighed and settled in for a wait. Wufei and Duo went to sleep. There was no reason for them to stay awake, the auto pilot was engaged and it would only take a second to wake them if there was a need. Heero stood first watch.

Zechs, meanwhile, was ensconced in the forward lounge. They'd made an announcement that both the forward and first class lounges were closed. They didn't need someone taking on enough Dutch courage to do something stupid. The bar tender offered Zechs coffee, which he accepted.

"We going to make it? Really, man, I need to know."

Zechs shrugged. "I don't see why not. This boat flies like a shuttle. And Maxwell is an expert pilot. I fought him in the war. Frankly, he could fly anything and land it anywhere. The other two are no slouches either."

"I saw them when they went forward. Those kids are really the Gundam pilots?"

"Yes, they're really three of the five Gundam pilots."

The bar tender looked skeptical. "And you're sure because?"

"I'm the sixth."

"Oh . . .um, here's your coffee."

Zechs nodded at the man, who went back to whatever it was he'd been doing before.

He sipped at the coffee and realized he hadn't felt like this in a long time, half tired, half exhilarated, not since the war ended. He wondered for a moment if he was crazy, then decided that it didn't make any difference. He had a job to do, a job he was good at and it felt right.

Heero poked Duo with his foot. He wasn't getting his head anywhere near Duo until he was awake. Duo snorted, exploded from his seat, knife in hand; then he blinked, grumbled, and settled back down.

"What?"

"Auto pilot."

" 'scuse me?"

"Time for another course correction. You need to turn off the auto pilot."

Duo scrubbed his face vigorously with both hands. "Ok."

Duo flicked the shut off switches then flicked them again, nothing happened. He fiddled with things for a moment then swore.

"Wufei, get on the hooter and tell them the auto pilot is fubar."

Wufei snorted once as he woke up. He put on his head set and contacted the tower. After some back and forth he turned to Duo.

"They say . . . flick the switches into on then back to off, one at a time. If that doesn't work, they'll send in a technician when we land . . . ancestors protect us all."

Duo made a rude noise but did as they'd said. It didn't work. No one was surprised but they'd done what they were told to do.

"Call 'um up an' tell 'um."

Wufei said something rude in Mandarin and did so. They said not to worry about it, the tech would fix it when they landed. Duo got on the radio, sounding cold, efficient and clinical he demanded, "And how the hell do you expect me to land this bucket if I can't turn off the auto pilot to make a course correction? Or work the controls to land?"

"The controls override the auto pilot."

Duo pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is Flight 204_heavy_. We're a wide body. The auto pilot overrides the controls. Get your shit together."

There was a short silence, partially filled by radio noise then the air traffic controller came back on with the 'good' news that they had to turn off the auto pilot and they could do it any way they could.

"Well, thanks for that news flash. We'll be out of contact until we figure out something." Duo tossed his head set and sighed. "Heero, hack that monster, will you? I'll keep on the stick until we see if that's going to work. If it does, I'll have the yoke in hand. If we don't get that auto pilot off, this plane is going to turn into a Ralph Rocket about three minutes after we run out of gas."

Wufei settled into the copilot's seat giving up navigation to Heero as having a more direct connection to the onboard computer and the auto pilot programs. Heero grunted and started hacking.

It didn't take long to realize that the problem wasn't in the program but physical. Heero over rode the auto pilot through the computer then took over the yoke as Duo yanked the cover on the auto pilot and started tracing wires. If they didn't fix the auto pilot, someone was going to have to fly the plane for the next four hours. This wasn't that difficult but why wear themselves out if they didn't have to.

Duo made a face. "Aww, man. That's just nasty."

Wufei leaned in to peek over Duo's shoulder. "Ugh. It is."

"What, all ready?"

"Roaches. The computer is full of them. They ate right through the insulation. I need a piece of wire to splice this."

Duo fished in his braid and pulled out an appropriate piece, he spliced and fiddled a bit. "There . . . that ought to do it. Heero, hit the switches will you?"

Heero did and the auto pilot obligingly turned off. Duo settled into the pilot's seat and told Wufei to redo the corrections, they were now almost fifteen minutes past corrections. Wufei did as he was asked and gave Duo the numbers. Duo made them, reset the auto pilot and grumbled. "Fuel, fuel, we gonna be so short. Fuckfuckfuck."

Heero redid Duo's calculations in his head and agreed. None of them were happy.

Zechs was doing a walk through, show the colors and all that. He'd already checked with the steward in first class. Everything there was going as well as could be expected. Business class was just behind first class and the stewardess in charge there was happy to report that everyone there was calm, in their seats and cooperative. Zechs patted her on the shoulder thanking her for her calm. Economy was behind business with a galley between the two classes. The passengers there were just finishing up their meal and they all seemed to be resigned to their fate. _thank god_

Zechs realized that he hadn't gotten into tourist yet. Tourist was on the second level of the plane, accessed by a stair case opposite the galley between first and business. He gritted his teeth at this perceived dereliction of his duties and hurried down the steps.

He was greeted by half a dozen people. They'd obviously been waiting at the bottom of the stairs for sometime. They were rumpled and a little grumpy.

"Excuse me. I've been elected to speak for all of us. We're not very happy about being kept in the dark for so long. Who are you and what is going on?"

The whole group pinned him with unhappy looks.

"I'm so sorry. Frankly, I've been a little preoccupied. But that's no excuse. To put it simply. The entire flight crew and the air marshalare ill. There's no need to be concerned for the safety of your . . . er. . . who are you, please?"

The spokes man answered. "We're all tour groups headed to, well everywhere. We" he indicated the small group. "Are tour guides. One from each of the different companies. There are more groups, twenty in all, encompassing about two hundred people. But we elected representatives to cut down on confusion. Most of our charges aren't even aware that anything is wrong. So . . . who's minding the store."

"I am, along with three very competent pilots. We've taken over control of the plane with the approval of ESUN Aviation Administration. We're going to have to continue to our original destination. We can't land anywhere else."

"I see. And who, might I ask are the new crew?"

"I am Zechs Merquise acting first officer. The pilot is Duo Maxwell, copilot Heero Yuy, navigator is Chang Wufei. They're all qualified. Any other questions?"

"Not about that. But you said the crew is sick? Did you think to see if there's a physician on board? Maybe he could help."

Zechs blinked, one of those slow 'why didn't I think of that' blinks. "I'll see to it at once. Thank you. Tell your people whatever you think is appropriate. And . . . thank you very much for keeping everyone so calm. Where's the steward staff?"

"Tourist doesn't have one. We do all the refreshments ourselves. It's an arrangement with the airline that keeps the cost down. We'll see that the meal is served. People are getting a little restless, but we didn't want to serve until we were sure what was going on. Thank you for coming down."

Zechs climbed the stairs and got on the PA system. His plea for a physician was answered by a stern looking older woman who snapped, "Well, is there an explanation or do I work in the dark.

Zechs told her the whole story, she informed him that he was lucky more people didn't know exactly what was going on. "I'd be handing out Prozac like M & M's'

After a quick check over, Dr. Marie Sanderson announced that the crew and the air marshalhad food poisoning. She smelled the remains of the cheese puffs and sighed.

"Cream cheese. When will people learn? You have to keep it below 42 degrees." She wiped her hands with a disinfectant towelette and led Zechs to the forward lounge.

"They're not contagious. I'd move them in here and put them on the floor. You can pad it with blankets and get them more comfortable. I'll stay with them. There's not much to be done for them except nurse them through the symptoms. They're not dead, so they won't die. If we could have gotten them to a facility an hour ago we could have pumped their stomachs and helped them some. I'll just keep an eye on them. You go on about what ever it is you need to do. Shoo." She flapped her hand at him and settled into a chair. Zechs told the bar tender to do whatever she asked and left. The bar tender got the steward to help him move the men and get them resettled.

Zechs reported to Wufei and asked him if he thought they should make an announcement of some kind.

"I don't think so. The passengers are calm, so let's not rock the boat, so to speak. The less they know about us the better. We've already had one man try to take over because he saw us."

Zechs shrugged. "Ok. You want anything? Anyone?" Zechs included Duo and Heero in his question.

Duo asked for coffee, Heero for tea and Wufei denied needing anything. Zechs collected the drinks from the first class steward, checking on the Doctor and her patients on the way.

"Everything is good to go. Coffee, tea. I'm staying here for a while. I like a locked door between me and them. I'm exhausted."

The last contact with the tower was to confirm the landing instructions. The entire airport was turned upside down. All other traffic was diverted or in holding patterns. Crash crews were mobilized and medical help standing by.

Duo turned off the now functioning auto pilot and prepared for landing. The tower gave him final instructions and he asked for a gate number. He was given one but told that he didn't have to worry about it. He just snorted and signed off.

The landing was almost anticlimactic. Duo landed, taxied to the designated gate and shut down the engines. He checked the fuel gauges and growled. "Two more minutes and we'd have flamed out. Damn it. Who do I talk to?"

Duo keyed the mic and announced to the tower that they were all clear. The tower sputtered something about landing protocols, but Duo cut them off.

"Look all we want is to get off this disaster and get where we're supposed to be. So, get us a ride. We'll deplane a-sap. And if we see one reporter, I for one, am gonna go spastic. Do you copy?"

The tower did and assured Duo that they would be met.

They waited until all the passengers were off the plane, the explanation from the head steward being that they had things to do.

It took a while as the well passengers from First class and Business had to wait while the EMT's took the crew off first. Economy and Tourist both had their own doors so they began deplaning at once.

Then it was their turn, they got their baggage then headed for the tunnel from the plane to the concourse. Heero took point, with Duo and Wufei following, as far apart as they could get in the tunnel. Zechs took rear. He was tall enough to see over the other three. They all knew there was no threat from behind. None of them drew a weapon but they were all very wary. Each one of them had converted their carry ons into backpacks so they wouldn't be in the way.

They were met by a very apologetic air line official and a sheriff's deputy.

"I'm sorry. There's a conflict of interests here. We need to speak to you about the flight crew and the deputy is here to take you to your final destination."

The deputy was eyeing them with some disfavor. Duo bristled a little but Heero patted his arm and whispered. 'Let Zechs deal with it. Just stand here and look pissed.'

So they did. Heero put on his stone face, Duo glared like it was all the deputy's fault and Wufei looked down his nose at them as only the son of a thousand generations of Chinese nobility could. And Zechs wasn't much better, he put on the arrogance of five hundred years of ruling a kingdom and demanded.

And got.

They were all escorted to a vehicle. One glance told them that they were up there in the local food chain. Their ride was a Hummer, huge, polished, very military; with the WEI logo on the door. The driver just stood up from his lean on the hood and waited with a small smile on his face.

The airline official was nearly dancing with upset.

"You can't leave yet the EAA needs to see you. And the debriefing for our people . . . and . . . wait!"

Zechs turned and shrugged. "You can send your people to us. We'll work you in somehow. Right now, we have to go."

The driver went around and opened the back of the Hummer for them to toss their bags inside. Then he climbed into the driver's seat and waited until they got themselves settled. The deputy followed them into the passenger compartment.

"Well, that was a circus and a half. Do you guys attract that sort of thing? Or are you just lucky?"

Duo looked at Heero who shuddered, Wufei groaned and poked Zechs. "Kill me now."

"Look buddy. I don't get into messes just for the fun of it. If I want violence and drama, I can always blow up something. All I really want is to have some peace and quiet. Like space peace and quiet between the stars drifting in a very small station peace and quiet. Fucking my lover blind peace and quiet. But do I get it? Nneeeeuuuuwww not poor Duo. all I ever get is grief and trouble and idiots asking me stupid questions and shooting at me, beating me up and shit. And stealing my parts and . . ."

Heero, Wufei and Zechs tuned Duo out and left the poor deputy wishing he'd kept his mouth shut.

Duo held out all the way to the sheriff's office.


	39. Opening Gambit

The Price 39

* * *

Betaed by skippyscatt

* * *

Heero poked Duo, "Be still. The sheriffis a nice guy. I don't want you to scare him.

Duo snorted. "Ok, sure. Nice guy. Right."

Wufei got out clutching at his stomach. It hurt again.

"'Fei? You ok?"

Zechs leaned over Wufei concern etched on his patrician face.

"Airline food should be illegal. My stomach is all upset."

Zechs fished in a pocket, finding the small tube he opened it and handed Wufei a couple of antacid tablets.

"They taste nasty but they do the trick."

Wufei chewed the chalky, mint flavored digestive aids and grumbled. "They've been around for five hundred years and they still taste god awful."

"Been around longer than that. But . . . oh," Heero had finally gotten impatient and gently poked Zechs in the back. "Sorry."

Heero exited the Hummer next hauling Duo after.

Duo eyed the sheriff, assessing him carefully.

What he saw was a man used to being in charge. Sheriff Haskins looked back and saw a child.

Duo poked Heero in the side. "Talk to him. I'm going to find the coffee. And a cot. A . . . four cots in a single room. Ok?"

Heero nodded distractedly. "Sure. Wufei?"

Wufei stepped up beside Heero and Zechs took a place behind him.

"Sheriff."

"Yuy?"

"Yes. Do you remember me?"

"Sure do. You're the miracle boy. The runner."

"That's me. This is Chang Wufei." Heero held his hand across his chest palm up, indicating Wufei. "And that's Zechs Merquise." Heero jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

Sheriff Haskins eyed Zechs, then nodded. He gave Wufei a sour look and asked, "Who's the young hot spur that went inside."

"Duo Maxwell, my lover. There's a problem, what is it?"

The sheriff opened the door to the station and led the way to his office. He offered coffee around and sent someone to find Duo.

"I'll wait until he's here, then I'll have my say. Don't feel like repeating myself. Sugar?"

He raised the basket holding packets of sugar, powdered creamer and artificial sweetener. No one took the offer.

Duo entered with a soft whoosh of closing door. "Coffee. Great just what I need." Duo took the cup that the sheriff silently offered him. "Heero, there's a ready room just off the intake section. We can set up there. Cots, facilities everything. Take a look."

Heero pulled Duo against him. "In a minute, sheriff wants to have a word with us." Duo turned bird bright eyes on the man, pinning him with another assessing look.

"Sure. I just hope it's not that 'you all look so young' crap. I'm so tired of that I could puke. I'm ready to work. We need to get this over with before someone hurts Relena. If she's got so much as a scratch, I'm gonna have someone's guts for garters. 'Ro? What's a garter?"

Heero, used to Duo's random stress induced questions, ignored it.

"Garter is an elastic band old-fashioned women use to keep up stockings." Wufei blinked at the sheriff for a second then snickered. Zechs thumped him on the back of the head with a finger snap.

The sheriff intervened sternly. "Boys, that'll be enough of that."

Wufei flushed, Zechs just smirked at the sheriff. Heero sighed, this wasn't starting out well at all.

Duo bumped his head against Heero's shoulder. "This isn't starting out well, is it?"

Heero shook his head. "Sheriff, why don't you just spit it out and get it over with? We got things to do and people to kill."

"Yeah, and you're kids. I don't like this. When the war was over, you were promised things. I saw what they done. I don't like it at all. You should get to . . . retire. Go to school, do kid stuff. Instead, you're here, getting ready to put your lives in jeopardy for . . . what?"

Duo was shaking his head. " 'Ro, you wanna start or shall I?"

Zechs cleared his throat. "Let me."

The sheriff turned weary eyes to Zechs and nodded. "Yeah, your lordship could explain things to the country bumpkin."

Zechs shook his head. "Not a bumpkin. Just a man. A kind man. But, you see, we're not children. We're old. Old in experience. Old in war. We're the go to guys when the go to guys can't fix it. Duo can . . . blow up anything with stuff most people don't even know is explosive. Heero is stronger than you and I put together. Wufei is a trained martial artist. And me? I'm not a lordship anymore. I'm a Gundam pilot and an embarrassment to my family. Among other things. So, you see, while we appreciate your concerns, do you really think Commander Une is stupid enough to risk all on children?"

Sheriff Haskins rubbed the back of his neck with a chagrined expression. "Yeah, well, that's what I was afraid of. So . . . what do you need? I'll give you whatever you need, if I have it."

Duo and Heero glanced at each other. 'That was easy' was a common thought. Wufei grimaced and wished his stomach would calm down.

"What's wrong, love?" Zechs rubbed Wufei's shoulder gently.

"Upset stomach. Got any antacids left?"

Zechs silently handed over the requested bottle. Wufei chewed, swallowed and grimaced without taking his eyes off the sheriff. Zechs made a mental note to find out how often Wufei should be taking the stuff, and how long it should be taken.

* * *

It didn't take long for word to get out that the Gundam Pilots were there. They had to endure a stream of officers trailing past the break room on the flimsiest of excuses. Zechs finally got up and closed the door.

Heero got out his computer and set it on a desk. "I'll go through all the information and organize a mission report. We'll need to know . . ." he trailed off as he started identifying files and opening windows on his desktop. Wufei, Duo and Zechs set out identical personal computers on their desks. They knew Heero would have a Preliminary Mission Plan completed as soon as possible.

Wufei started identifying sources of supplies. He wasn't sure what they might need so he compiled lists of places to get machinery, weapons, explosives and anything else he could think of. Duo started hunting up blue prints of the prison, hoping to find an easy way in and out. He also got a topographic map of the area. Zechs made contact with every newspaper, vid station and radio station in the area and as many ESUN wide ones as possible.

There was little comment other than 'hand me that' or 'look at this'.

The sheriff checked in on them once, he got a four way glare that made him rethink several ideas, and pull his head back. "Those boys are seriously scary. I've never seen the like." The passing deputy nodded, remarking, "I saw Maxwell once, during the war. Looks like he's half his age, but he's one crazy kid. Charged a half dozen men with nothing but a knife. He won. They died. And Yuy? Colder than an iceberg. Don't know anything about the other two. Gotta go."

Heero opened the door the sheriff had just closed and checked the hall. He glanced up then down the hall. He didn't see anything unusual so he shrugged and shut the door.

"What was that? Anything we should worry about?"

"No. Someone talking in the hall. I thought I heard our names mentioned so I checked it out. Have you got the prints yet? And the topog?"

Duo shrugged. "I called them up. There's a remote printer somewhere in the building. I sent them there. I'll have to go out and find the machine. How soon do you need the paper?"

Heero cracked his back and sat back at his computer. "Soon, but not right now. Why don't you take a stroll around and see if you can't make contact with the special ops team? See if there's going to be trouble with them. I'd like something besides coffee. Juice? Whatever you can find. Ok?"

"Sure thing. I'll get the prints and topog, some juice for you. 'Fei? Zechs? Want anything?"

Wufei asked for some tea 'if it's not from a cheap bag', Zechs decided he didn't want anything.

Duo entered the cafeteria just in time to hear, "And that long haired one, the braid boy? He's what? All of ten? What the hell is Lady Une thinking sending that bunch of juvenile delinquents to take care of a job like this?"

Another voice piped up before Duo could take exception. "Better not let one of those juvies hear you talk like that. They were all of them Gundam pilots. Deadly. That little, fairy looking, braid boy, well . . . last time I heard anything about him, he'd just blown up a mobile doll factory and cleaned out a nest of Ozzies single handed. Sneaked in, set charges, blew up the building then came in with his Gundam and squashed the rest. Really a sharp deal."

"Yeah, and Heero took the hit later. Guys, I don't want to step on any toes, so, you got a grievance let me know now. We don't have time to fuck around here. Is there any juice, green tea?" Duo rummaged in the cooler, finding tea in a bottle and some juice, he turned to smile sunnily at the gathered group of gapping men. "What?" No one noticed that the smile didn't reach his eyes.

There was some foot shuffling and rib poking until one man stood out from the group. "Well, there's no question that we're in over our heads. But . . . well . . . shit. I don't give a damn what Une says, you're too young to be in this sort of business. We'll . . . but."

Duo took pityon the red faced man. "Heero has been in this business all his life. I grew up on the streets of L2. Wufei comes from a warrior clan and Zechs is a natural. We're capable of handling this. Don't let our looks fool you. We were all involved in the war up to our necks. We can't handle this, it can't be handled. You got more problems?" He let his gaze drift over the group again. No one looked like they wanted to say anything else.

Duo picked up his drinks and paid the clerk for them. He asked her where the printer was. She didn't know, but one of the special ops team said he'd show Duo where it was.

Duo dropped the drinks off at their office, kissed Heero and left with the man, who told Duo his name was Connor Long.

"You and Yuy doing the horizontal tango?"

Duo nodded, distracted as he kept looking around, committing the layout to memory. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"No. Keeps your eyes off _my_ boyfriend." Connor stopped at a door. "Here. I can hear it printing."

Duo twitched as Connor opened the door, letting it bang against the wall. The room was dark and windowless. Duo waited as Connor turned on the light and crossed the room to the printer. The big plotter was chugging quietly to itself as it drew the outline of the top floor of the prison.

"Well, let me see. . ." Duo flipped through the pages that were finished. "We've got the topog,and that's the last floor to be done. How long will it take to finish?"

Connor thought for a second. "About two more minutes. But you didn't need that topog. We got a bunch of them. We're always having to search for some stupid hiker who manages to get lost in the mountains. We issue them to all the searchers."

Duo nodded absently. "Yeah, but how often do you update your set?"

Connor blushed. "Haven't the foggiest."

Duo just looked at him for a second. When the printer dinged that it was finished, he took the pile of three foot by four foot sheets and put them on the big table that took up most of the center of the room.

He checked the blueprints to make sure that they were all there and in the right order. He folded the topographical map correctly, bit his lip and cued the printer to printout several more. He crossed his arms over his chest, cocked his hip on the table and crossed his ankles too.

"I'll wait for the copies, if you like. You got more to do than stand here waiting for crap."

Duo gave Connor a genuine smile. "Thanks. I'm going to go see if I can't fix up a bivvy for us. That room just off the intake . . . we could use it."

Connor shook his head. "Naw, don't want to use that. It's Friday night. All the drunks and fools are out. Full moon, you know. You'll never get a wink. We have a regular dormitory on the second floor. Some of us live fairly far away and have trouble getting back and forth in bad weather. Some guys are on watch and watch. I'll see you up there in a few. Help you figure out which beds you can take." Duo thanked him and left.

* * *

Heero looked up as Duo came into the room. "Hn. What now?"

"Connor, the guy that showed me the printer room, says that they have a dorm upstairs. He says we can have beds there. We'll never get any sleep in the room I wanted because of the drunks and crazies. Come with?"

Heero nodded, checked his computer and went to Duo. "Sure. I'll be glad to get away from that screen for a while. It's collating just now and it'll probably take a while. Let's go."

They both spent the walk to the upper floor thinking; about different things to be sure but the silence was companionable and warm.

The dorm was good sized but not huge, divided by shoulder high walls into cubicles that held a bed, foot locker, chair and workstation. Heero looked around and pointed. "There."

Duo checked the area and gave it his approval. "Yeah, nice."

Most of the cubicles were open on one side, in this area they were open on two and they opened into a small square making a semi private place for their group. They could see each other, but still have a modicum of privacy.

"I'll ask Connor if we can bivvy here. I don't see any personals so it should be all right."

Heero tested one of the cots, it was firm but not hard, two sheets neatly mitered covered it, along with a blanket. Another blanket covered the foot. Duo had opened one of the footlockers while Heero was testing the bed. It was a standard military locker, deep enough to hold plenty of things with a half length sliding tray for small items.

Duo nodded his acceptance. "Why don't you get Wufei and Zechs up here to take a look? I've got to go back and pick up the rest of the topog maps. They should be finished printing by now."

Heero just headed for the door calling back over his shoulder, "Zechs will like it. He and Wufei can move their cots together;at least they can touch each other while they sleep."

Duo followed after him saying, "Yeah, like we're so not."

Heero's laugh floated over his shoulder.

* * *

Duo picked up the neatly folded maps, the blueprint and a hand full of odd papers that Connor had left for him. Shuffling through them as he walked caused him to bump into a big man who caught him before he hit the floor.

"Thanks man. I should be watching better. Sorry about that. Are you hurt?'

The man snorted softly. "Little guy like you? Not a chance. You better find your daddy though. There's trouble here and you shouldn't be wandering around." He noticed the armful of papers Duo was carrying. "What's all that? You need help with it?"

Duo shook his head. "No. Thanks." He decided to avoid an argument. The man was just trying to be nice. He headed for their ready room and made it without further incident.

Heero turned his head just in time to jump up, grabbing at papers to keep them from slipping out of Duo's arms.

"Thanks. Man, I'm starving. Let's go to the cafeteria and get something to eat."

Heero grimaced, cafeteria food was usually all starch and grease. He didn't much care for it.

"We could go for sushi. We passed a place on the way here."

Duo vetoed the idea. "Not good. We're not here and something happens, we're out of the loop. Not worth it."

"Ok, you're right. We could order in?"

"Yeah. Sounds good. Well, I'm shut down."

"Me too. Let's find Zechs and Wufei. They might like some too."

Heero and Duo went in search of Zechs and Wufei. They found them in their new quarters sitting on one bed just holding hands.

Duo eyed Wufei doubtfully. "You ok? Don't look so good."

Wufei shrugged rather grumpily. "I still have indigestion. I wish I had some of those old-fashioned pills my grandmother used to give me. They really work."

Heero thought for a moment. "You know the name. If you do, we could look for them on the net."

Zechs brightened. He was really worried about Wufei. He was too young to be having indigestion so much.

Duo swore softly, they couldn't access the net, everybody's personal computer was busy working on various facets of their mission. He looked for a phone book, perhaps there was a Chinese pharmacy nearby. They might be able to get what Wufei wanted quickly.

"I'll call around and see what I can find. Oh, and 'Ro and I are in the mood for sushi. You guys want?"

Zechs nodded, Wufei shrugged one thing was as good as another. "I'm not really hungry, but maybe if I eat something this indigestion will ease off. Whatever you three want is good by me."

Duo looked at Heero who just shrugged. He'd eat just about anything. Duo decided to find an office and make his calls there. Wufei needed to sleep and Zechs was looking droopy, too.

"I'm going to find somewhere to make a call. Heero?"

"I'm going back to the ready room. Check on the computers, start compiling results. Call me when the food gets here."

They went their separate ways. Heero to the ready room and Duo in search of an office he could use.

* * *

"Hey kid."

Heero turned to look indifferently at the skinny man standing in the door. "Yeah?"

"You shouldn't be in here. It's reserved for adults and official . . . officers." The man's slightly confused look put Heero off.

"Well, I'm official. Yuy."

"Who y?"

Heero rolled his eyes. This guy was going to be trouble. He just didn't want to deal just now. He stood up and strolled to the door.

"Heero . . . Yuy . . . Gundam 01. You got something you need? Or are you just here to bust my chops?"

The man spread his hands in a conciliatory way, saying, "Easy there. Don't go off half cocked. Just saw the light. No one's supposed to be here this time of day."

Heero grunted, eyed the man, disliking the look in his eyes, then turned to go back to his desk. He felt the hand on his arm before he heard the sputtering. He just stood for a moment as the man tried to turn him around. Of course it was in vain, Heero stood stock still so it was like tugging on a wall.

"I have work to do. I suggest you let go of me, before I get pissed."

"Get pissed kid, what ya gonna do about it?"

Heero took the man's hand and twisted it back on the wrist. He cramped it over until the man yelped in pain.

That's what I'm going to do about it. Now, you have two choices; get out, or let me break it. And I'm not too particular which at this point. I'm tired, hungry and worried about Relena. Make up your mind."

The man whimpered softly then relented. "I'll go. But I'm telling the sheriff. Let go of my arm."

Heero let go and waited until the man left the room. He went back to his desk wondering if the sheriff would do something to him, or was that idiot in trouble. He didn't much care one way or the other. He'd rather have the sheriff's cooperation but they could do without it.

* * *

Duo managed to find a small office that wasn't locked. He could have gotten into any office he wanted but he didn't want to alienate someone by messing with a locked office. All he wanted to do was order sushi, not start an interdepartmental pissing contest.

He entered the office and realized that it probably belonged to a civilian assistant of some sort. All it contained was a desk, chair and several filing cabinets. He settled at the desk and searched it for a phone book. Finding what he wanted, he called the restaurant and ordered a traditional bento box for each of them. When he gave the address the man on the other end of the line just grumbled, 'you're not a cop. They don't eat sushi.'

Duo replied in Japanese, "No, I'm sure they don't. But my friends and I do. Please deliver it to the side door. Someone will meet you and pick it up. Thank you very much." The restauranteur told him thirty minutes and hung up.

Duo examined the office for a second time then went to the door to wait for their food.

"'Fei, are you all right?"

"Zechs, stop worrying. I'll be fine. That airline food just upset my stomach. And I'm always a little nervous at the beginning of a mission. And you'll have to admit that this is a hell of a mission. What are we going to do for backup? You know that these people are good officers but they just aren't prepared to deal with something like this. We need equipment like we had in the wars. That place is a fortress. I don't like it."

Zechs sighed, ran a hand through his bangs and agreed that the whole situation was liable to blow up in their faces. "We'll just have to wing it."

"Wish we could."

"Huh?"

"Wing it. . . Wing would be good. Or Shenlong. Or 'Scythe."

Zechs nodded, longing for his Gundam–or any Gundam for that matter.

"Yeah. But you know damn good and well that one sniff of a Gundam anywhere in ESUN and the lemmings would all panic. We don't need that. . . Gott, I wish . . . no, never mind. Wish in one hand and shit in the other, see which one fills up first."

Wufei sighed. When Zechs got crude it was a sign that he was worried. "What about this assignment worries you the most?"

Zechs shrugged irritably. "Lack of resources, lack of back up, lack of experiencedsupport personnel. Need I go on?"

"Heero and Duo are . . . well, they. . . ow!"

"Wufei? Why is your stomach still upset? I thought you took something."

Wufei grimaced. "I did. Seems ancient Chinese medicine can't sooth me either. I'll take some more in . . ." Wufei glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes. Until then, I just want to go to sleep until Heero finishes that mission statement."

Zechs decided he was going to sleep too. There was no use in either he or Wufei losing sleep if there was no reason. They might regret it later.

* * *

Duo collected the food and took it up to the dorm. He called Heero on his cell phone and then woke Zechs.

"How's Wufei? He wasn't feeling so good in the car. I noticed that you gave him some antacids."

"Not much better. I'm worried. As soon as this mission is over, I'm taking him to a doctor."

"Good luck."

"Don't need it. I'll crack him on the head and drag him if I have too."

Duo laughed softly. "Take him to Po. She can handle him . . . welp. . . wake him up. Here comes Heero."

Heero stalked in with a sullen glare plastered across his face. He took the bento Duo handed him and settled on his bed.

"We're in trouble." At the looks he got he frowned. "That prison is a fortress. Built during the war. It's set up to keep people out as well as in. I've run several scenarios . . . they all failed."

Duo ran a hand through his bangs. "Well, fuck."

Wufei grumbled as Zechs settled next to him on the floor. "Damn. We need to get up close and personal with it."

Zechs nodded. "Nothing like on the spot intel. We'll have to go on site tomorrow."

Duo grumbled, "And we better make a show or we'll have the same trouble we've had here. We all look way too young to be who we are. I don't feel like fighting off every fool who thinks we're kids. It gets tiresome real quick."

Zechs smirked at Wufei, "My beauty works against me. It's a burden I've learned to bear."

Duo opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was a wheeze. Heero snickered and Wufei just groaned.

They finished the sushi quickly then put the bentos out for the clean up crew to take

After showering and changing into sweats and t-shirts they all settled down for some much needed rest. Duo lay awake for a while listening to Heero sleep. Zechs and Wufei were quiet, but they were far enough away that he couldn't tell if they were asleep or not. Duo wished the bed was wide enough that he could cuddle with Heero.

Heero meanwhile was wishing the same thing as well as wishing this whole mission was over. He didn't have a good feeling about it. The back of his neck kept crawling.

* * *

The next morning they all dressed in BDU cammo urban. They looked more like soldiers than they had the night before. Somehow uniforms instead of jeans and t-shirts seemed to impress people.

Instead of scrambling down for breakfast they lined up and entered the cafeteria two by two, quietly joining the end of the breakfast line. They were lucky that the sheriff's office had a cafeteria, many didn't. This station was in a small town but it served a large area and had many officers who had to drive long distances. The cafeteria was a god send especially on Sundays and holidays when the local restaurants were closed or crowded.

The line moved slowly but steadily through the serving area. Each station offered something different. They made their choices and settled at a table to eat. There was no horse play or foolishness. They were all business. It was time to go to work.

After eating they picked up their trays and deposited them at the bus window.

They met their driver at the front door. He'd watched them as they came down the hall, quietly leaving the building. Their bearing was all business which impressed the deputy. He saluted. They saluted. He opened the door, then entered the Hummer.

"I'm sure you gentlemen are aware that we can't drive all the way to the prison. They have been keeping watch on the road. Any traffic and there's a dead body on the wall. We haven't taken the chance that those maniacs are serious. We've been going in a back way. We can drive to within a half mile of our Command Post. The terrain is too rough for even the Hummer the rest of the way. It's the best vantage point. We've got several tents and all available equipment. It's under cover too. Lots of trees."

He continued to ramble, obviously nervous. Wufei eyed the man and wished idly that he'd shut up. Zechs just rubbed his shoulder.

Duo finally took charge of the nervous deputy, asking him questions about the lay of the land. His astute questioning filled in some blanks for the foursome.

"And how's the sheriff really taking the idea of us doing the job?"

"Shit, sir. He couldn't give a rat's ass. All he wants is Miss Relena safe and those radicals out of Hellcreek, or locked up in there. You're really the Gundam pilots? You look so young. But I heard that none of you were more than 16 when OM started."

Duo grinned at the man in the rearview mirror. "I was probably fifteen. Trowa might have been sixteen."

Zechs laughed. "I was all of nineteen. I think. And while we're young in age. We're old in . . ."

"Villainy." Wufei interjected. "I was fifteen."

Heero just shrugged. He really wasn't sure how old he was. J. had set his age at an arbitrary fifteen when Operation Meteor started.

The deputy just shook his head. "That's the problem. Everybody is convinced that you're just kids. Most of the guys in the know are willing to give you a chance based on your reputations. But some of the higher ups got their panties in a bunch over this."

Duo yawned and stretched ignoring the jouncing caused by the terrible shape of the road. Heero negligently braced himself next to Duo. Zechs had braced his long legs against the back of the front seat and was holding Wufei as he took notes. They were all glad they had a Hummer instead of a jeep. Riding in a jeep would have been unbearable. The Hummer was tolerable. Moreover, it had room for their gear.

The driver stopped in an open field, parking next to several four-wheel drive pickups and a jeep. Duo clambered out of the Hummer and started digging out the packs. He handed each man his pack and they strapped them on, making sure that the chest and belly bands were tight.

"Ok. Ready?

Wufei called cadence and they started for the command post, nearly a mile away.

* * *

They made good time over the rough terrain. They had to climb a ridge and take a trail that ran along it for some distance then they started down the front side of the ridge. It didn't take them long to make the final leg of their hike.

Zechs made a suggestion before they got into the command post proper. "We ought to make a little show of respect to the sheriff. He's a good man and we don't really want his nose out of joint."

Duo nodded, saying, "Sure thing." Heero and Wufei just grunted their assent.

They drew abreast of the central tent and Wufei called out, "Halt, right face. Attention"

They stopped, made a military force turn and came to rigid attention. They saluted and waited for the sheriff to salute back. He did and they entered the tent.

"You boys don't have to salute me. I'm just a sheriff."

Zechs shrugged. "We're not military or Preventers. We're WEI Security. We salute whoever we think deserves it. You get saluted. . . . Now, we need the rest of your intel. We've got the blueprints and some profiles. Do you know who all the perps are, or are we still working that out?"

Sheriff Haskins sighed. "We don't know how many or who. We just know that they are there and that they have all of the Peacecraft party except for that one intern they sent out with their demands. Mostly we've been flailing in the dark. My men aren't trained for this sort of thing. They're trained for the incidental type of 'drugged out crazy' rescue. You know, out of control boyfriend thing. They're good at that and they're all good men."

Zechs held up a hand. "This isn't something you should even consider having to deal with. This is out of your league, no offence intended. Your men are in shape and all that, I've seen them. This is a military operation. We're actually storming the fort so to speak. So you did right and called in experts. Relax. We're not here to pick faults or criticize your operation in anyway. So, Heero will set up . . ." Zechs turned to find Heero. "Oh, he already has."

Heero had set his computer up while Zechs was talking with the sheriff, he smiled at them then went back to work.

Wufei was watching some of the deputies working out. He was going to have to set up a demonstration to show the men how good they were. Psychologically it was good public relations. The men would see that they were as good as they were made out to be. He sighed. I hate politics

Duo was also set up. He was going to back up Heero if he had to hack a system. It was easier if one of them hacked while the other covered whatever traces were left and helped shut down security systems. The two of them could hack anything. They'd proved that over and over during the wars. This time they hoped to get legal access to whatever information they needed but they weren't taking any chances.

They spent most of the morning hunched over their laptops, hacking furiously. Wufei spent the time tending to their needs and checking legal precedents. Zechs spent the time smoozing with the locals.

Their consensus was; they didn't like it. They were sure they couldn't handle the situation, but they were equally sure that a bunch of kids couldn't do it either. They wanted to know if Une was crazy or what.

Zechs spoke to Wufei and they agreed, a demonstration of martial arts and shooting was in order.

* * *

Since I have joined Nano, chapters are going to be shorter for the month of November. That way I can update each of my stories and still complete the 50,000 words necessary. 


	40. First Move

The Price 40: First move.

---

Betaed by skippyscatt

---

The four young men spent the rest of that day and most of the evening researching, trying to find out who the men in charge of the uprising were and what they were capable of. Information was scarce and Heero was in a temper by the time they allowed themselves to sleep.

Duo had taken a break early in the afternoon and gotten their tent. The sheriffhad told him there were several and they could have their pick, except for the one already occupied by the Spec Ops group. He'd decided to take one near them but not too close.

Wufei and Zechs had checked it out too, but Heero had stayed at his computer, typing away. He could still sleep anywhere, as long as he was sure the area was secure. And if Duo said it was secure, it was.

But their sleep was disturbed despite the secure surroundings. The first disturbance was from two of the Special Opps people. They were looking for Heero.

"Hey, Yuy! You in there? Sheriff wants ya!"

Heero was awake at the first sound and groping for his gun, he realized just in time what was going on. Duo grumbled, "Special Ops? Hell, we're screwed." Heero patted him on the shoulder and told him to go back to sleep.

Heero went to see what the sheriff wanted. The sheriff was sitting at his camp desk swearing up a storm. It seemed that Une had sent them a care package and the sheriff wasn't best pleased.

"I really wanted to keep a low profile until we hand better intel. But this 'delivery' of yours . . . well, it's sure to put up someone's back. You should see the stuff _she_ sent." His emphasis on she set Heero's teeth on edge.

"How bad is it?" Heero braced himself for the news.

"Well I suppose it could be worse. She sent arms up the wazzoo. Bunch of guns, ammo up the ying yang. Things I've never seen before. And an eighteen-wheeler to carry it all. How we're supposed to get all that stuffup here, I don't know."

Heero rubbed his face with both hands. "Don't worry about it. I'll go down, take an inventory and bring back up whatever I know we'll need. Just park the damn thing somewhere and put a guard on it. No, send to WEI and have them guard it. You're spread too thin. Anything else?"

Sheriff Haskins shook his head. "No. Just . . . damn, boy. Lady Ann Une sends you a hell of a toy box and you don't even blink an eye. What the hell?"

Heero was tired and thinking about what Une had sent them so he put his foot firmly in his mouth. "It's a hell of a lot better than stealing it or buying it on the black market. And I, for one, intend to send Une a thank you. I'm going back to bed. Don't let anyone turn off my computer. It's running a search. Should take all night."

The sheriff just sat there for a moment staring at Heero's retreating back. Then he muttered, 'Well, hell. I don't even want to think about it.' and headed for his own bed.

---

The second intrusion was much more dangerous as four of the regular deputies decided that they'd shivaree the new comers. This was an ancient western custom of breaking into people's homes or camps and dragging them out into the night to dance them around on chairs and generally scare the wits out of them.

Needless to say, it didn't go well at all. The tent door was thrust open and the men rushed in to grab their quarry and pull them out. They were met with four deadly firearms aimed directly at them, backed by four furious wide-awake faces.

Zechs stood up slowly, fury written plainly on his face. "And just exactly what do we owe this insanity to? Have you completely lost your minds?"

As one the men held up their hands and started backing out the door. "Sorry. We're sorry. We just . . . well . . . it's an old custom. But we . . . can see it's not . . . we'll be going now."

Duo grumbled, put up his fire arm and settled back in his blankets. "Heero, go back to bed. You too Zechs. Wufei? You ok?"

Zechs snarled and snarked but went back to bed. Wufei had barely woken up, just pointed his gun in the direction of the disturbance and glared. Duo turned to look at the intruding men, he looked tired and cross.

"Look guys. This wasn't the best idea you've had lately. We're tired and wound up. Meet us for coffee in the morning if you want to be hospitable. Good night."

The men crept out of the tent, shaking in their boots. When the sheriff found out about this, he was going to have a fit. They'd been told specifically not to bother the specialists. They'd thoughtit was just a bunch of hooey after seeing the pilots. Now they were sure they'd just missed death and disaster by the skin of their teeth.

"Wait 'til the sheriff hears about this. We're dead men walking."

Another man poked the speaker. "Shut up! Want to call down disaster?"

"No, but I don't believe inthat shit."

A third voice joined the argument. "Well, I do, so shut up."

A furious voice from the tent snarled. "This is a _Tent_, you morons. All of you shut the fuck up. Go to bed. Do what _ever_, but do it quietly."

Mutters of 'fucking fucktards' and 'hush' were accompanied by rustling sleeping bags and quieter grumbles.

The four deputies made their way to their own beds, thankful that they hadn't gotten shot.

---

The rest of the night was as peaceful as a night in the mountains can be, and the group woke with the sunrise.

The smell of breakfast was wafting through the camp; coffee, eggs, bacon, toast and other good smells woke the group slowly.

Duo was the first to wake, nose twitching like a rabbits at the delicious smells coming into the tent. He reached over and poked Heero, who grunted. 'M awake.'

Zechs woke when the sock Duo tossed his way hit him in the face. "What? Oh, I'm up. Now." Zechs turned to Wufei, who was curled into a tight ball and tapped him on the foot. "Wake up, Yahzen. Morning."

"No." Wufei was not a good morning person until after meditation, before, he was, as Zechs said, 'A very grumpy dragon indeed'. Wufei pulled the blanket over his head and tried to snuggle down again.

Zechs pulled the zip up from the bottom of the sleeping bag and tickled Wufei on the foot. "Up. If you don't get up now, you won't have time to meditate before breakfast. Come on, up. Rise and shine."

Wufei pulled his foot deeper into the sleeping bag and grumbled. "I'll rise, but I refuse to shine. Who thought up that particular bit of idiocy anyway?"

"My nanny. Get up. Cranky pants." Zechs smiled at Wufei who had to smile back. "Now go meditate."

Wufei grumped his way into pants and shirt. He opened the tent flap, looked around and decided against finding a private place to meditate.

Heero watched his friend for a moment then turned to Zechs. "I have to go back down the mountain. Une went generous on us and sent a tractor trailer load of who knows what. I'll do a quick inventory so we'll know what we have. I'm going to call the local WEI and set a guard on it. Who knows what mischief these fools could get up to with some of the stuff Une was sure to send."

Zechs raised an eye brow, Heero wasn't usually so judgmental. "Excuse me?"

"I really object to being awakened in the middle of the night by idiots. It makes me cranky. They could have gotten themselves killed for a child's prank. I've got a lot to do today. First, I'm going to check my search. I'll meet you in the mess tent . . . in . . ." Heero glanced at his watch. "Twenty minutes. Wufei should be done with his morning meditations by then. He usually doesn't spend much time on them in the morning unless he's upset or trying to figure out something." Heero walked out without saying good bye. Duo watched him for a moment, then sighed.

"Well, that was a great start to a good day . . . not. God, I hope they have a lot of strong coffee. And they didn't boil it. Argh." Duo stretched, still seated on the cot with his sleeping bag pooling at his hips. "I'm going to drag my stinky self to the showers. Then coffee, coffee, coffee and eggs and bacon and . . . wonder if they have muffins." Duo scrambled out of the sleeping bag and into his clothing. He rummaged in his pack and extracted clean things, a toilet kit and towel. He started out the door to find the showers.

"Wait for us. We should stick together until we're sure that there aren't any repercussions from last night."

Duo just waited by the open tent flap while Wufei and Zechs got themselves organized and ready to go. He fidgeted with the end of his braid, brushing it against his palm then his chin.

"Come on guys. I'd like to get there before all the hot water is gone. I hate cold showers."

Zechs shook his head, bangs flopping. "I'd think you were used to them. Um . . . safe houses aren't noted for their amenities."

"Yeah and the orphanage didn't have a lot of water, hot or cold. I'm used to them that don't mean I like them. So hurry, will ya?"

Wufei shuddered. "I hate cold showers. Positively. I had to take them in the monastery and . . . what? I'm Buddhist. I was a monk for a year."

Duo goggled at Wufei for a moment, then decided not to make a deal out of it now. They had way too much on their plates. He'd winkle the story out of his friend later. Zechs refrained from comment too, for a different reason. He'd felt the stiffness in his lover and didn't what to dig up unpleasant memories.

"Well, I don't want to say I told you so. But when you have goose bumps the size of Gundams, don't blame me." Duo left by himself, trotting toward the shower trailer, braid bouncing.

Zechs and Wufei followed quickly, carrying towels and accoutrements. Duo had his toiletries bag slung over one shoulder. "Zechs, we better stay close to him. I don't like his mood. If someone tries something stupid or even bumps him, bad things could happen. He can get twitchy if Heero isn't near."

Zechs eyed Wufei for a second. "I don't want to ask . . . do I." It wasn't a question.

"Not really. One of the reasons he's not too keen on Une. Bunch of soldiers, shower, naked, tied up . . . no, you don't want to know."

Zechs fumed, snarling, "I gave direct orders that things like that were not to be done. I'd like . . . shit."

Wufei just patted Zechs on the arm. "Things happen. Now we have to deal with the consequences. We better hurry."

They hurried and were just in time to see Duo strip, step into a shower and ignore the stares. He had a rather impressive collection of scars, not as many as Heero but still . . . way too many for an eighteen-year-old.

Zechs stripped off and entered a shower, Wufei right behind him. They bracketed Duo, Zechs on one side Wufei on the other. The water was still hot enough to steam up the windows, so they all took their time.

Zechs swore as he caught his hair in the oddly set corner of the stall. "Ouch! Schist! Maxwell, give me a hand. Wufei's worthless when I get caught."

Duo wandered over to see what the problem was. The corner was screwed together with wing nuts and Zechs was caught on one. He reached out and untangled Zechs then started back to his own shower.

He was stopped by a huge man with a buzz cut. "Hey, kid. You too, blondie. Ya ought ta cut that mess. All anyone'd have to do is grab it." The man started to demonstrate by grabbing at Duo's loose hair.

He didn't get far. Duo pulled a short blade from somewhere and slashed at the man. He backed up until he was near the locker baskets. Zechs put himself between the fool and Duo while Wufei snatched up towels and handed one to Duo, wrapped one around himself and another around Zechs.

"Don't even think of it." Zechs ignored Wufei, keeping his attention on the other occupants of the showers. "We'll be getting dry, dressed and out of here. No one comes close. Understand?"

Several other men either groaned or grumbled. One came forward to say. "Don't mind Fritz. He's an ass. All Oz and stuff. He's ok as nut jobs go. We'll keep him out of your way. Just finish your showers and ignore him."

Zechs looked at Wufei and Duo. Wufei shook his head. "Not a chance. Duo's shaking, we need to get him out of here."

Zechs nodded, grabbed extra towels and dried his hair then turned to do the same for Duo. Duo was clutching at Wufei's shoulders, wide eyed and fretful.

"Where's Heero? I need him. Wufei, find Heero. Let's go find him, now."

"Sure, we'll go find Heero in a second. We need to get dry and dressed first. Ok?"

Duo didn't seem to really hear Wufei and Wufei was starting to freak out a little himself. He didn't like being this near a man who was admittedly Oz without a weapon in hand. He felt himself starting to shake too.

Zechs swore softly then turned to Fritz, "you see what you've done?" Fritz started to say something but Zechs stood straight looked him right in the face and said something in German that made him flinch."Now go find Yuy. We need him here. Maybe he can repair this. Go! Mach schnell!"

Fritz dressed hurriedly, dragging clothing on over still damp skin and headed out the door at a hard trot.

Zechs moved to do what he could.

---

Heero looked up from his computer to see a strange and strangely upset man standing in the doorway of the command tent.

"Yuy! Where is he? He's needed."

Heero stood up from his chair, situated behind a command board. "Here. What's wrong?"

"Um . . . Maxwell is having some kind of melt down. All I did was suggest that he should cut his hair."

Heero winced. "Please don't tell me he was in the showers. And you didn't touch him? Or . . . oh, fuck." Heero grimaced in irritation when Fritz nodded. "Shit. Show me."

---

Heero took one look at the huddle of bodies and snarled. "Out! The lot of you! Get out!" he moved to gently pry Wufei off Duo. He pushed Wufei into Zechs's arms and tugged Duo out of his defensive huddle.

"I've got you love. It's ok. No one is going to hurt you. Easy." Heero crooned and soothed. Zechs did the same with Wufei. The few remaining people shifted uncomfortably and eased for the doors.

When the sheriff got the word, he just swore. His people were good people for the most part, but none of them had been in actual combat. They didn't understand twitches and flashbacks. He rubbed his forehead in irritation. Those boys had enough to deal with without a bunch of rough-assed red-necks pulling stunts on them.

He went in search of the pilots and found them back in their tent. He scratched at the closed flap and was told to come in.

"Hello. Um . . . damn. I hear there was an incident with Fritz in the showers. I'm sorry. He's ex-Oz and has no idea sometimes. I'll speak to him. Is there anything you need?"

Zechs shook his head. "No, Duo just needs to get himself together again. Wufei was upset too. Flashback, you know. As to Fritz, I'd like a word with him. In front of as many of his cohorts as possible. If you don't mind."

Sheriff Haskins shook his head. "I don't mind. If you can get through to him, I'll appreciate it. I've talked until I'm blue in the face. He just gives me that 'you have to be tough' shit. Like long hair or being a woman makes you less tough." The sheriff sighed. "Ten minutes."

Zechs nodded. This wasn't going to be pretty. He was going to do his Lightning Count act and hope most of the people took it to heart. If not, they were going to have continuous problems until this mission was complete.

He turned to Heero and touched him on the shoulder. "How is he doing? Wufei is better. Yes, love?"

Wufei nodded, hugging the blanket Zechs had wrapped him in tighter. "I'll be ok in a minute. Just . . . I don't like so many big men so close. And Duo's worse than I am."

Heero petted Duo gently. "Better? Duo?"

Duo nodded, breathing deeply, using a centering exercise Wufei had taught him. "Better. I'll be ok. Just . . . ugh. I hate having anyone but you touch my hair when it's down. Wufei and Zechs aren't so bad either. But that guy, he needs to learn how to keep his hands to himself. And this is so not a good start. This mission is jinxed. I swear."

Heero winced. The last time Duo had declared a mission jinxed, they'd had all sorts of problems. "I hope not. We have to get organized today and find out more about who's in there. Come on. We better be standing behind Zechs when he goes all Lightening Count on those assholes."

They finished taking care of themselves and dressed in BDU Tactical Green and checked each other out. After some tucking of shirts and boot shining they headed for the general staging area.

The sheriff had as many of his deputies and spec opps personnel there as was possible and still man the electronics. They were lined up in formation, at attention and the sheriff was ripping them all a nice new one.

When they marched in, they were all business and the stern expressions on their faces worried those who didn't know what had happened. Those who did, trembled in their boots.

---

Zechs started out cold and went from there to arctic. He explained exactly what had happened, then explained about flashbacks. He lectured them on the responsibilities of men to each other. Then about abusing hospitality. He ended up by announcing that anyone who thoughtthey were incapable of doing the job could either leave or suck it up. He ended by asking them if they thought they were ready to handle the job on their own and offering to let them take the first shot. He didn't get any takers on any of his suggestions.

"Very well. Dismiss! Return to your stations. And no more nonsense." Zechs made a perfect about face and stomped to the table the sheriff had set up as a review station. "Well, that was a disaster. We'll have a devil of a time gaining their cooperation now."

Duo sighed. "I'm sorry. I could have handled that better. And now they're all going to resent us for that little ass eating. Shit!"

A voice from behind him said softly. "No, we're not. We know exactly where to put the blame. Fritz is always yapping on about the superiority of Oz training. But all it really did was make him stupid. If you want to, you could come to the tent over there . . ." The man pointed to a tent near the mess tent. "And . . . um, guys? Have you eaten yet?"

Duo's stomach gave a miserable growl. Wufei shook his head. "No. We got waylaid. I, for one, could use some food. Let's get some breakfast. Even if it's only leftovers."

The other three agreed and were glad when their host shrugged and said, "Breakfasthas been held over for this. There's going to be a line but we'll jump you up to the front."

Heero shook his head easily. "No, we'll start at the end like everyone else. But I'll admit I need some food too."

So they headed for the mess tent and a delayed breakfast.

When they entered the mess tent, they joined the end of the line without much comment. They made their way to the head of the line and accepted their trays. After filling them they found an empty table and sat down. Heero felt the skin between his shoulder blades tighten. He watched a subdued Duo shovel reconstituted dried eggs into his mouth. Wufei ate steadily, neatly forking up his eggs. Zechs kept his back straight, head erect, just as he'd been taught in the academy. They were all on edge and showed it.

"Excuse me. Can I . . . um . . . sit down a minute? Please?"

Heero's glare nearly scared the man off. Heero pinned him with such a cold look he felt shivers squirming up and down his spine. Wufei didn't bother with a glare. He actually snarled at the man. Zechs said fridigly. "Sit." Duo kept his eyes on his plate, trying to keep from shooting the man where he stood.

"Look. We all got off on the wrong foot. Fritz told us that you'd get a kick out of a shivaree. So we did it. Obviously you didn't like it at all. So . . . they, the other guys, elected me to come over and apologize to you all. So. We are really sorry, swear to god we are. Ok?"

Zechs looked at Duo and Heero. He already knew what Wufei would say. Heero shrugged, "I want a quiet talk with Fritz." Duo nodded at Zechs, not yet ready to speak to anyone outside their group.

Zechs gave the spokesman a regal bow, "Apology accepted. Tell me. Is this Fritz a lot of trouble?"

"Man, where do I start. He swears he was in Oz Specials. But he's dumb as a box of rocks. We all have our doubts, but his records check out. So we're stuck with him. I really wish someone could prove him . . . um . . . wrong? What ever. Sheriff just keeps him around because he can talk that Oz lingo, helps talk down drunks. You know?"

Zechs nodded again, braid swishing against his back. "Yes. I see. I have some contacts. I'll get his citizen number and check him through my sources. I don't remember seeing him and I saw almost every Special at one time or another."

Zechs pulled his phone from the thigh pocket of his TRU pants. He dialed a number, spoke for a moment then listened for several more. He then dialed another number, gave the information he'd obtained and waited. Everyone watched him rather impatiently, waiting for him to get his information. He finally hung up the phone.

"Where's the sheriff? I need to talk to him about a fraudulent application." Zechs stood up, excused himself and left with the man. The others looked at each other then went back to eating their breakfast.

---

Heero poked Duo. "We need to do some attitude adjustment. A little calming of the waters. You catch my drift?"

Duo nodded. "Yeah. We got a situation on our hands. And we need to fix it fast, or we're never going to get anywhere here. What do you want to do?"

Heero shrugged, "Clean our hand guns."

Duo snickered. "Ok."

Wufei nodded. "I think mine needs a little attention too. May I join you?"

Duo smirked at Wufei. "You bet cha."

All three of them took their fire arms out of their holsters and unloaded them, removing the magazines and checking chambers. Then they got their cleaning kits out of their pockets.

Each one of them had a different way they set out their gear, but they all put their guns right in the middle of the layout. Heero looked around, most of the people in the tent were watching them, either openly or surreptitiously. He motioned to a man who was watching openly.

"Could you call start for us? It's not fair if one of us does it. Oh . . . and does anyone have a stop watch?"

"Sure, I'll call start for you. My name's Mark Holland. And I have a stop watch." He chuckled slightly. "It's on my watch."

There were a few snickers and he flapped his hand at the other observers. "Stop that. Ok . . . ready . . . set . . . go!"

All three sets of hands flashed into motion. Parts hit the table with soft clicks, each one of them set out in a neat pattern. Cleaning instruments were pulled or pushed through barrels and receivers. Parts were wiped with oil rags and quickly snapped back into place. When the first weapon slipped into its holster Mark called 'time' the other two sounded like echos of the first. The winner and loser were only separated by two tenths of a second.

"The winner is . . . um . . . I'm not sure what your name is. Sorry"

Wufei looked smug, as he had everyright to. "Chang Wufei."

Heero and Duo both congratulated Wufei. Duo also smacked him gently on the shoulder. "You've been practicing. Good for you. I can't believe you actually beat Heero."

Heero snorted, "Andwhy is that? I haven't had a chance to practice speed cleaning in nearly a year. Good work, Wufei."

Wufei smiled in pleasure at the well-earned praise. "Thank you. Now I challenge you to a match." He looked around. "Anyone else want to come? You're all welcome to observe or put in your own challenge." There were several interested looks and some scared ones "We should take this somewhere more appropriate"

So they all trooped out into the impromptu parade ground. They were barely in the middle of the grounds before Wufei attacked Heero, Duo darted out of the way, joining the other observers.

Heero blocked Wufei's first blow, the second caught him in the short ribs hard enough to make him grunt. He backpedaled gaining just enough room to keep Wufei from hitting him again. He squatted and fired off a drop spin kick. Wufei jumped it but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the reverse kick which got him just under the shoulder blades. Duo winced at the thunk of foot on flesh. "Man, that one's gonna leave a mark."

Wufei let the momentum of the kick push him into a forward roll that took him out of Heero's reach. He bounced to his feet and turned just in time to have Heero grab his wrist, twist it up behind his back and then trip him. He landed on his stomach but that didn't do Heero much good. Wufei squirmed until Heero lost his grip, then wriggled around, put one foot in Heero' stomach and kicked him off.

After a few more lightening kicks and punches Heero took a square hit on the chin. It wasn't very hard, but he acknowledged the hit by stepping back and holding up both hands. Wufei backed up and waited, it was their custom for the looser to bow first. Heero bowed, carefully keeping his eyes on Wufei's. Wufei bowed back, according Heero the same respect.

Wufei ambled to the edge of the clear space and squatted. He found awater bottle dangled over his shoulder. "Here. Bet you're thirsty. Good match. In fact, scary match. I didn't see half of it."

Wufei didn't recognize the voice and had to stifle a flinch. He didn't like having strangers behind him, but a bad reaction now would do them no good. He sighed when he felt the silent pressure of presence ease. He realized that everyone had given him a rather large personal space.

"Heero's very fast and exceptionally strong. Excellent fighter." Wufei watched as Zechs made his way through the crowd. He felt relief as he knew Zechs would stand behind him. Zechs wasn't much bothered by people behind him.

Zechs did exactly as Wufei expected him to do. "Hello, lover. Got your info?"

Zechs nodded. "Spoke to the sheriff, Fritz is on the way to the slammer as we speak. He's wanted for war crimes. Idiot! All he had to do was keep a low profile and no one would have ever caught him. Oh, well. And he never was a Special. So . . . what's going on?"

Wufei snickered. "Heero lost."

Zechs winced slightly. A voice from beside them said, "So Yuy lost, big deal. It's not as if he lost to someone . . . um . . . not as good as he. I mean . . . well um . . ."

Wufei realized that the twin beams of their stares was making the man nervous.

"You don't understand. The looser has to fight Duo." Wufei settled back to see how the fight would go.

---

Heero sighed. Fighting with Duo was bad. One, he loved the violet eyed maniac and didn't want to hurt him. Two, Duo was a street fighter with enough formal training to make him extremely dangerous. And Duo could make a weapon out of the oddest things. He eyed the clearing doubtfully, there didn't seem to be any weapon makings around, but with Duo, who knew?

Duo smiled at Heero, one of his innocent ice cream wouldn't melt in my mouth smiles. His eyes said, 'watch out!' Heero took his stance and waited for Duo to make the first move.

And waited, and waited. The fight degenerated into a staring match that kept them watching each other and twitching for several moments. At least that's what the watching deputies saw. A few were martial artists and were awe stricken at what they saw. This was a match of absolutes. Each twitch was the beginning of an attack, or the answering defense. One mistake and the attack would be real and indefensible. Duo blinked, Heero started an attack. It didn't reach its target and Heero drew back with a dark blue mark on his throat.

"Damn it! Duo how the hell do you do that? And where the fucking glorious hell do you keep that knife?"

Duo snickered. "Awww, Heero, that'd be telling. Wanna search me for it?" Heero shook his head ruefully. Both men headed for Wufei and Zechs, ignoring the observers for now.

"Hey, Zechs, wanna match me? I'm in the mood for another fight. What'd ya say?"

"That I'm going to regret this immensely in about four minutes. Come on."

Zechs settled his shoulders and walked into the impromptu ring.

"You get the first swing. Ok?"

Zechs frowned. "Duo Maxwell, I don't need the first . . . damn it!" Zechs swore this time he was going to keep Duo out of his personal zone. Every time they fought, Duo got inside his reach and he was done for.

Duo rushed Zechs swiped at his face and rolled out of reach. Zechs tried to keep him far enough away that he had a chance. But it didn't work. Duo got inside again and punched him in the stomach. Zechs woofed out all his air and stood gasping for oxygen. Duo laughed, not his merry, happy laugh. This one was ugly and maniacal, Shinigami's laugh. Zechs back peddled as best he could, looking at Duo sharply, checking to be sure he was awake and aware x 4. He was, so Zechs aimed a kick at him, hoping that his long leg would give him some advantage. It worked. He caught Duo in the side with a soft thump. Duo hopped away easily.

"Na, na. Zechsey. You know better than that. I'll have you in a sec."

Zechs reacted easily. He'd been working on this particular move for a while and hoped that it would work as well in reality as it had in his plans. He twisted slightly and then snapped his head, flicking the end of his braid across Duo's face. Duo flinched back at the sting of the end on his cheek. Zechs snapped out a hand and tapped Duo on the Adams' apple. If he'd used full force Duo's throat would have been crushed. Duo threw up his hands and announced. "Ok. I'm done. I give."

Zechs had to smile. Duo was truly delighted at the outcome of their match. He was always a good sport, except when it was the real thing, then as he said. "Fuck or get fucked. And I only take it from Heero."

"Well, finally. I'm tired as hell of you kicking my ass."

Duo smirked at Zechs. "You been hanging around with me too long. You're getting potty mouth."

Zechs rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I lived in barracks from the time I was fifteen. Just because I have a layer of fancy polish doesn't mean much. You do just as well when you want to. It's second nature to me because it was beaten into me at school. And don't make that face."

Duo had made a sorrowful face but brightened as Heero came to put an arm around him.

"I think we may have made the proper impression at last. Come on. We need to go check my search."

---

They started for the HQ but got waylaid by men who wanted to ask them questions, congratulate them on their fighting abilities or their cleaning race. They spent over an hour talking to people. It was time well spent. Between one thing and another, their bad start was smoothed over. They all sighed silently in relief. It would have made a difficult mission even worse if they had had to fight on two fronts.

Zechs sidled up to Heero, "You can sneak off if you want. I'll stay around and shmooze with the locals. Public relations seem to be my role in this mission." Heero gave Zechs a calculating look, unsure of his attitude. "I don't mind. Whatever it takes. I'm not even supposed to be involved in this." Heero's blank look made Zechs laugh softly. "Relena is my sister after all." Heero's stunned expression made Zechs laugh even harder. "Oh, go on. Scoot." Heero left at an easy trot.

Duo glanced up from where he was showing some deputies his 'picking kit' but decided to finish his conversation before following Heero. He went back to his lecture with some misgivings.

"Take it easy there, partner. We're really good guys, you know. We all got off on the wrong foot. We expected a bunch of arrogant take charge from the hick types. Instead we get a bunch of . . . well, um . . . no offence, but you're actually younger than my oldest and he's sort of useless. Too young to do anything and old enough to want to be on his own. It's actually a little bit intimidating, that, and you're easily half his size, but watching you fight . . . man that was something. And . . ." At Duo's amused look he sighed. "I'm babbling aren't I?"

Duo just shrugged. "No matter. I'm the babble king. Just ask Chang. But see, the whole bunch of us started training practically in diapers. We don't know any other way to be. Just think, you want your son to go through what we went through?" Several of the bystanders shook their heads or made some sort of negative sign. "Didn't think so. So, what we have here is an agreement that the six of us are unusual in every way and get judged on our own merits. Right?" Nods all round satisfied everyone.

"Excuse me. Can I ask a question?"

Duo grinned again, "Just did. But you can ask anything you what too. I just don't promise to answer."

The man shuffled his feet looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry. But I was in the showers. What happened? I think we need to know some details, just so we don't punch the wrong buttons."

Duo sighed, rubbed the back of his neck thinking. "Well, not to go into too many details. Because I'm not going to. Wufei and I both wound up on the wrong end of Oz torture methods so naked in a shower with a bunch of really big guys is not good. Then that ass handled my hair. Which I hate. Only Heero, Wufei and Zechs can touch it without . . . repercussions. So I flashed back to a really bad time. Now . . . we move on. Subject closed. Ok?"

Duo glanced around the group to see several very large tough men nearly in tears. Everyone in the group looked upset, pissed off, disgusted and/or several other emotions. Duo blinked for a second then started his lecture firmly ignoring everything but the subject at hand.

Wufei was also involved in a lecture. He was explaining about martial arts weapons and how both he and Duo could find a weapon almost anywhere. He pulled a chain dart from his pocket and dangled it from one hand.

"You wouldn't believe how effective something as small as this can be. The targets are the problem. Temple. Eye. Hollow of the throat. Back of the neck near the base of the skull. And the force can be problematical. If you strike too hard, you have no informant. If you don't strike hard enough, you've got a screamer on your hands. Duo is good with found weapons. He can turn a broom stick into a deadly weapon. Not that he's not one on his own. So . . . questions?"

One hand rose. "Yes. That thing looks like a surveyor's plumb bob."

Wufei nodded. "It is. I picked it up on a mission. I was trapped and out numbered. There was a surveyor outfit right there. I got my hands on this and used it for a dart. It worked so well I hung onto it. It's heavy for its size, small enough to fit in my pocket and the chain won't tangle."

"I see. And how did you get away from the . . . Oz? Troupers?"

Wufei gave the man a slightly disgusted look. "Think."

He got several wide-eyed looks in return. "Oh . . . shit."

"Exactly. I had no wish to be captured again. It wasn't a pleasant experience the first time. The second time was even more unpleasant. They tried to suffocate us by shutting down the vent system in our holding cell. So, you see why neither Duo nor I are very pleased by being crowded by unidentified naked wet men?"

The grimaces he got in return were answer enough. He returned to his lecture.

Zechs spent his time just talking and socializing with everyone who walked up to him. He enjoyed himself, relaxing into an easy camaraderie with the group of men around him. They asked him questions about Oz Specials which he answered as best he could. Finally he had to explain that he was not only a special but one of the inner circle and mostly involved with the mobile suit division, spending most of his time in space working on Talgeese.

The group finally broke up when the sheriff called shift change and sent the deputies to their duties. The three pilots went in search of Heero.

---

Heero entered the command tent and went directly to his work station. He found that his computer had been disturbed, the key board wasn't where he had left it and the screen had a popup displayed, demanding a password.

He looked around and saw one of the sheriff's tech department personnelsittingbehind his station.

"Did you touch my computer?"

"Sure did. You're not allowed personal computers. You're supposed to go through our network. And you're not supposed to lock the plug ins either. I'll have to report you if you don't shut down."

Heero just eyed the man. His casual attitude and slouched posture annoyed him.

"I'm not one of your people. I was running a very important global search. I hope you didn't crash the run. If you did, we're behind by at least six hours. Don't fool with my stuff."

The deputy stood up and wandered in Heero's general direction, looking at other stations as he approached Heero. Heero waited until he could read the man's name badge.

"Look. Stapleton. Um . . . Don, you need to pull your head out of the book and listen. I'm not one of your people. Tech or other wise. I'm WEI Security and not obligated to obey your regulations. The reason my plugs are all physically locked is for exactly the reason you just gave. You unplug any unauthorized equipment without thought or question. I used to be the same, but I learned to question first. So, just so we're on the same page. Leave my equipment strictly alone. Period. No touchie. Got it?"

Don eyed Heero for a second then mumbled. "Well, I'm gonna tell the sheriff. He'll make you . . . you're . . ." Heero glared at him, putting all his annoyance in a fierce look that literally pinned the man in place.

"You're not listening to me. I'll put it this way instead. If you so much as look cross-eyed at my stuff one more time, I'll break all your fingers. One by one. Every bone. Do. You. Understand?"

Don paled. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. I'm telling the sheriffyou threatened an officer of the law. You're in real trouble now, mister."

Heero just rolled his eyes. "Yes, please, you do that. Right now." Don stumbled out and Heero settled at his station, grumbling about, 'damned, ivory tower idiots.'

He checked his search, thankfully Officer Stapleton's fumblings hadn't crashed anything. He breathed a sigh and started checking out the results. He read quickly and cut and pasted things around into his presentation program. When he was done, he called to the sheriff, who was busy bawling out Stapleton for messing with his equipment.

"Sheriff, save your breath. I'm well acquainted with his type. Just keep an eye on him, or order him directly to leave my equipment alone. But just now I need you. And send someone to find the others. I've got a preliminary report for us to view."

The sheriff gave one more snarl in Stapleton's general direction and sent a different officer to find Zechs, Wufei, Duo and an officer named Brown. It didn't take long for him to find everyone.

The three other pilots were already on their way in and Officer Brown was sitting in the mess tent drinking coffee with his team. The runner rounded them all up and sent them to the command tent.

---

The sheriff looked at the group and waited for what Heero had to say. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to like any of it.

He was right. It seemed that the prison was full of ex-Oz and ex-terrorists of various sorts. And mercenaries. They'd taken over the prison and were even holding other prisoners hostage. They'd locked the place down, confining all the prisoners not on their side to their cells.

They had also locked down all of Relena's group. What they hadn't done was close the computer links. Some of the prisoners not in on the takeover were emailing from private connections. The trustees had them, so plenty of info was getting out. Only it was going to people who had no idea what to do with it. Heero had tapped into the prison's uplink and had copied everything going out and coming in. He also had managed to tap into the security link and had pictures of all the hostages and the terrorists. He'd performed a search which included every picture he had, and any name.

All the men involved in the takeover were former members of an Oz super secret cell called, Polaris, Heero admitted that it didn't seem to be an acronym or even stand for anything. Zechs sighed, he remembered hearing about Polaris, it was formed in the last days of the war to carry on the fight if Oz was defeated. He dropped this information into the room with a sigh

"It doesn't stand for anything. Some idiot just pulled it out of a hat or something. They're supposed to set up cells of terrorists to destabilize the government. This must have seemed like a god send to them. Get their hands on Relent and hold her for ransom then kill her anyway. I just . . ." Zechs started shaking. "I wonder what they're doing to her. Oh, my god." He buried his face in his hands for a moment.

Heero patted him on the arm saying in his Perfect Solder voice. Flat, without emotion. "Nothing. I've watched all the video of her, they've got the room she's in under constant surveillance. They feed her, talk to her. Nothing else. One man started to try something. They killed him. She's fine. Sort of."

Duo jumped on that. "What do you mean, sort of?"

"She's alone, for hours on end. She cries. They slapped her around a little. Probably to convince her to cooperate. She's scared. Other than that. She's not hungry, or thirsty. Her needs are seen to. She has a lavatory. Zechs, they haven't . . . touched her. We'll get her out, no matter what it takes. So. I'll continue with my briefing now."

Duo sighed. He was going Shinigami, Heero was turning more and more into the perfect soldier again. Wufei was jumpy and Zechs was falling apart. Probably one of them was feeding off the other.

Duo straightened up and patted Zechs on the opposite arm. "Look man. We'll save her. I Shinigami swear. I'll see her safe if it's the last thing I ever do. Hear me?" Duo crouched slightly to look Zechs in the eyes. "She's family, right?"

Zechs made a funny sound, halfway between a hiccup and a sob. "Yeah, family. She's family. You're family. Thank you. Thank you so much."

Duo grinned in a rather flip manner. "De nada, dude. So, 'Ro. Get on with it."

Heero did and went through his slide show of pictures of the men and what they were capable of. Blue prints of the prison were shown with points of interest outlined. He spent the next ten minutes going over every thing he could think of. When he finished, he called for questions, comments, emendations; anything.

All he got were very tired, rather blank, stares and grumbles. He announced that since it was nearly noon they should break for lunch and think about everything. He called another meeting for that evening as he had several requests for additional information into other agencies. He was hoping that Preventers and the construction company would agree to help him. He also had in a request to WEI to put pressure on several private corporations to give him company classified information. He closed with a soft, "That's all I have for now. All we can do is hope the negotiators can give us something."

---

All this times the negotiators had been in constant contact with the Polaris head man, who claimed his name was Pegasus. They didn't, as one put it, care if he called himself Santa, as long as he talked to them. They were compiling a list of demands. Most of which were outrageous and impossible to grant. But they were working with what they had.

The Polaris group wanted money, a lot of it. Free passage out and all kinds of other things. None of which they could get. ESUN policy was simple, promise anything; give nothing significant. Requests for food, and such, yes. What the negotiators called 'sweeteners'. But anything else, no.

One of the negotiators sighed, rubbed his face and swore. Duo heard him and walked over.

"Hey man. What's up?"

"We need to apply some pressure. Turn off something. But we can't get to anything, all their utilities are controlled from a small block house against the west wall. If we could turn off. . . . the water, electricity, phones . . . no, not a good idea that. But you get my drift, if we could turn something off, then they'd know we have some leverage. Fuck."

Duo shrugged. "You decidewhat you want off. And I'll see to it that it gets shut off. I can't promise that it'll be easy to turn back on. But that's another problem."

The officer sighed, "We need to be able to turn it back on on demand. We don't want to completely piss them off, just show them that we have negotiation tokens. So . . . electricity would be good. If nothing else we could always run a cable. And the backup generators have to go too."

Duo grinned. "Why not just blow the backups? That'll make the power go off inside for . . . um . . . about a half hour. Then the breakers will reset themselves. We can just tell them, next time it's for real. Give them the idea without pissing them off too much. What do ya say?. . . um" Duo made a point of reading the mans name tag. "Officer Wyncham?"

"I say . . . go for it."

Duo grinned and clapped his hands like a child offered candy. "Oh, goody. I get to blow something up."

---

Yay explosions next chapter.


	41. Middle Game Move 1

Middle Game Move 1

--

Betaed by Skippyscatt.

---

Duo went to speak to Heero about equipment. Heero thought for a moment. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Duo shrugged. "No man I'm not but the negotiator, Officer Wyncham is. He says that if we blow the backups that'll give them the idea that we're for real. Leverage."

Heero hummed softly deep in his throat. "Ok . . . you'll love this. Une has sent us a care package. I was going to go down and inventory it myself but you could do that. See what we really need . . . make a list. Whatever."

The crow of delight that Duo let out caused some of the people in the tent to stare at Duo. Others just grinned, thinking that he was clowning.

"Man, oh man. Une sent me something nice? Good. I need . . . plastic . . . and . . . detonators . . . and . . . and. . . . um . . ."

Heero was amused to see Duo drift off into planning mode. When Duo got that look in his eye, things were going to be destroyed—spectacularly.

"You go down and see what pretties Une sent up. I need a full inventory. Just in case. Don't get caught up in gloating and forget. Promise?"

Duo grinned at Heero. "You know me so well, lover. I promise. And I'll call you if I see anything I think you'll particularly want. Ok?"

Heero just smiled at Duo. "Just bring it up. Call if you just can't stand not hearing my dulcet tones."

Duo groaned, leaning down closer to Heero he said softly. "Idiot. I'll miss you every second I'm away."

Heero sighed, if they were anywhere else he'd kiss Duo but in front of a bunch of military types it probably wasn't a good idea.

"Kiss him! Kiss him! Kiss him!" Several people took up the chant and Heero smiled into Duo's eyes and kissed him. Duo kissed back with tongue causing those nearby to whistle and hoot. Duo broke off first.

"Ok, you hentai bastards, enough already. I got to go get some toys from down slope. See ya later."

Duo left with a backward wave and a flip of his braid. Heero chuckled and watched him walk out of sight.

---

Duo just walked up to the driver and told him he needed to go down to the sheriff's station. The quick trot to the parking area hadn't winded him at all. It had all been down hill after all, or mostly at least.

"I'll have to call the sheriff and ok it. But I don't see any reason not to. Excuse me a sec." The deputy made his call and smiled at Duo. "Ok, let's go. Sheriff says to take you anywhere you want to go, as long as it isn't Madam Sherry's place."

Duo grinned . "Madam Sherry's? If it's what I think, not my cup a'."

The deputy grinned back and nodded. "Exactly what you think. Not my cup a' either, my ol' lady would kill me. Real slow."

"Don't blame her. How long until we get there?"

"Name's Olson. About . . . twenty minutes or so."

Duo grunted, took his computer out of his pocket and buried his nose in it. "I'll work until we get there."

Officer Olson drove, keeping his mouth shut. This boy was so intense that he wasn't about to piss him off. Not necessarily a chatty man, he wasn't bothered by the silence, only interrupted by a few soft exclamations and the incessant tapping of keys.

The drive actually took twenty-two minutes. Officer Olson pulled up to the front door of the sheriff's station and parked.

"Well, here we are. When you're done, call this number." He handed Duo a card. Duo glanced at it and nodded.

Duo hopped out of the jeep and glanced around, there was no sign of the truck. He went into the station and approached the desk.

"'Scuse me. Name's Maxwell, came to check the Preventers truck."

The desk Sergeant had been warned by the sheriff not to piss Duo off. "Sure thing. It's out back. Go down the hall and turn left at the end. Keep going until you hit the door. Not too hard. And on out."

Duo thanked the man and headed off for the back door into the rear parking lot where he found a tractor trailer rig parked in the middle of the lot with a guard just coming around the back end of it.

"Holy fuck." Duo couldn't help his exclamation. When Heero had told him there was a truck he'd envisioned a box truck, not a semi. He headed for the back of the truck to open the doors, but a shout brought him to a halt.

"Hey! I done told you kids ta say away from that truck. Don't make a parcel of difference what's in there. You ain't gettin' in. Now scat."

Duo fished in his pocket and flashed his badge. "I'm Maxwell. Colonel Maxwell. I'm going to take inventory and then get some stuff. If you need to check with someone, make it snappy."

He wasn't about to argue with the man. He was with WEI and only doing his duty. If he got smart or nasty, Duo had other options. Options he didn't want to use, if he didn't have to.

"Let me see that badge again." The man held out his hand for Duo's ID. He examined it carefully, even going so far as to take it out of the holder and tip it back and forth, examining the laser etched, holographic seal with a special scanner. "Well, I'll be damned. You're Maxwell? I _was_ warned but I'm still flabbergasted."

Duo took his wallet back from the man and smiled. "Yeah, I guess I do look a little . . . little." Duo grinned at the man.

"Tiny more like. But dynamite comes in small packages. Here's the key to the padlock. If you need anything, I'll be hanging around. Lock up the trailer when you're done and give me back the key. Ok?"

Duo nodded. "Sure thing. Is there an inventory?"

"Yeah, but I can't make head or tails of it. I'll get it for you." The WEI agent walked off, he didn't hurry or linger, he just went. Duo gave him a speculative look. Most men would have questioned his ID more. Somehow Duo thought there was more to that man than was apparent.

He dismissed more contemplation in favor of finding what he needed and making his inventory.

The guard returned with a small data pad, he keyed it and handed it to Duo. All that Duo could read was the first line. He grinned humorlessly. It was an old Oz code. Une had made sure that very few people could read the inventory. Duo thought for a moment, keyed in a code and watched as the inventory was decrypted. He blinked for a moment as the blue light from the tiny screen washed over his face, making him look even more devilish than the expressions flitting over his face did.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Play toys galore. My, my, my." Duo scrolled down the list reading rapidly. Everything in the trailer was inventoried and located by a code indicating section and bin. "If it goes boom, I want one. And Heero, my, my. Wufei will love that. And I wonder what Zechy might like." Duo wandered down the center aisle and thought carefully. He'd picked up a gun for Heero, a nice survival knife for Wufei and was considering whether to bring Zechs a bazooka or a flame thrower when a sharp knock on the side of the trailer made him flinch and pull his hand gun.

"What?"

"If you're done in there, your driver is waiting for you."

"Ok, I wish he'd waited until I called him. He's going to have to sit out there now."

Duo ran a mental check list. He wasn't quite done so he told the man to have Olson wait. He took ten minutes to finish his 'shopping' and tuck his choices into a duffel bag. He tucked the data pad into a pocket. He hopped out of the trailer and shut the door, instructing the WEI guard to lock it up.

He tossed the duffel bag into the back of the jeep, added a backpack he'd also loaded and climbed in.

"Home, James. And why the hell do they call all drivers James? Doesn't seem fair."

Officer Olsen just shrugged. "Why did they call all train porters George in the early 20th? Comes under the heading of weird? Did you find what you want?"

Duo rubbed his hands together. "Yeah, I did. Have to forgive Une for some things, just because she sends such loverly presents."

Olsen gave Duo a strange look and mumbled. "And I really don't want to know, do I?"

Duo gave him a feral grin and settled back in his seat.

---

Heero looked up as Duo dumped his stash on a table nearby. He had to get up and go see what was there.

Instead of being allowed to browse through Duo's acquisitions he was handed a data pad and told, "Better down load that and resort it. I'm still not sure exactly what Une sent us, but I will tell you; it's an impressive war chest. Very nice. Wish we'd had most of it during the war."

Heero took the data pad, knowing better than to question Duo when he was in that sort of mood. It wouldn't do any good, he'd just pull some obnoxious prank and laugh. He took the pad and down loaded it without fuss.

Duo sorted through the assorted explosives and detonators he'd brought with him. He also laid out the fire arms and some other equipment. He scanned his booty and grinned. This was going to be fun.

He set out a package of C-4. The compound was older than dirt but still one of the best for what he was about to do. There were more powerful explosives, but with C-4 he could make shape charges on the fly and control the force and directionbetter. It was a bit bulky but that was what made it so controllable, he didn't need micro tools to shape it. He could do it with his hands. It actually looked like child's modeling clay.

Duo opened the C-4 and used his pocket knife to cut it into pieces. He kneaded one piece for a few seconds to check its condition. It was new and in perfect condition. He started to work up some initial charge shapes. Kneading the stuff into rough shapes.

"Hey. How's things? You get what you need?"

The sheriff had managed to get near Duo without setting off any of his various twitches but Duo didn't flinch. He knew the sheriff's voice by now.

"Yeah. I got a bunch of stuff. Explosives, detonators. Chemical and electric. Some very mean fire arms and a nice knife. Some scaling equipment. Few other things."

The sheriff picked up a block of clay and began to idly knead it in one hand. His arthritis was bothering him and the doc had said squeezing something would help. He'd forgotten the ball he usually used but clay was a good substitute.

Duo watched the sheriff in amusement. The C-4 was so stable you could smack it with a hammer, or set it on fire and it wouldn't explode. You had to have special detonators to make it go off.

"Well, tell me about it. What all do you have?"

Duo picked up the knife first. "Heh, this is the newest and finest of combat/survival knives. It's made of titanium alloy, sharp as they come and nearly indestructible. It's got a ceramic grip . . . hollow so you can stuff in a few handy things. I got it for Heero, he really misses the other one I gave him. Back in the war. I got another for Wufei."

He handed it to Sheriff Haskins to examine. "Damn boy. I know you guys were Gundam pilots but . . . I got ideas of my own. What should happen to those scientist guys."

Duo grinned at the sheriff. "Me too. But no go. They're comfortably dead. Pricks. Especially J. I'd like to get my hands on him in a dark alley. But, dream on. Oh, and here's an especially nice bit of something."

Duo picked up the hand gun he'd brought. "It's one of the newest side arms on the market today. It can shoot lead, high impact plastic, or loaded rounds."

Sheriff Haskins raised an eye brow. "I know what we call loaded rounds but . . ."

"The rounds are hollow and can be filled with all sorts of stuff, from explosives to knock out gas. Great stuff. You probably have something like it yourself."

"We do, but ours aren't convertible. We have to make a choice." The sheriff gazed at it longingly. "I wish we could afford some of that kind of equipment"

Duo shrugged "call WEI. Get on their beta squad. They'll send you all kinds of nice new toys. All you have to do is use it and fill out some forms and questionnaires. I'll give Quatre a call and see what I can do. Ok?"

Sheriff Haskins grinned. "That'd be great . . ." He watched for a moment as Duo sorted through his detonators. "What's that?"

Duo looked where the sheriff was pointing. "That's explosive. Plastic. Nice stuff. I like old fashioned C-4 for a lot of my work. It's stable, easily worked and fairly light. That stuffis heavy duty shit, very light, high density, powerful. But it's hard to control, you have to have special tools to form it and while it's stable it's also kind a' hard to set off. Only one detonator will work with it. And an explosion." Duo picked up the unopened block of C-4 eyeing it fondly. "This is C-4."

The sheriff eyed the block of putty colored, clay like material. "Doesn't look like much. That other stuff looks . . . explosive."

Duo smiled at the sheriff. "Well. What you've got in your hand could blow this entire camp to kingdom come, set it the right places."

The sheriff swore and dropped his play toy with a wild-eyed glare. "What the fuck?"

"Don't worry. That stuff is as stable as an anvil." Duo took the lump of C-4 and banged it down on the table. "Couldn't set it off if you hit it with a hammer. And it just burns if it gets near a flame. You have to have detonators to set it off. I like electronic ones myself. But chemical ones time better."

"Son-of-a-bitch! Boy, you scare me. Just calm as a mill pond and standin' there with enough explosive to blow us all to bits. Shit."

Duo shrugged. "Used to have to make my own. And believe me, that's not fun. Most of the processes stink, or produce by products that are poisonous or noxious or something unpleasant. And most explosives are unstable at one or more points during manufacture. Also, impurities are difficult to control. All in all, I don't recommend it. I really tried to steal stuff when I could. So, this stuff is a . . . Une sent." Duo snickered softly. "You all right?"

"Yeah, once I get my heart out of my mouth. What are you going to do with all that?"

Duo nodded to the C-4. "I'm going to make shape charges with it. The backup generators are my target. I'll use shape charges to blow them with a minimum of damage to anything else. I'm going to use the EP-41 to make some grenades. I can't carry normal grenades where I'm going. Most of them are a big hunk of metal with enough explosive in them to make a mess. I don't need that kind of power. I need just enough 'flash-bang' to stun a few guys as long as possible. This stuff will do that. All I have to do is figure out how to make a detonator that's as small as possible. I'm actually looking at the detonator being larger than the charge right now. I called WEI and put them on the job. Hope they come up with something. If not, I'll have to make do."

The sheriff shook his head. "I could send over Charles. He's the resident explosive and bomb expert, but I think you've got a leg up on him."

Duo grinned and scratched the back of his neck, looking young and innocent. "Well, send him over. Don't know as how he'll be any help but . . . who knows. Maybe he'll ask the right question."

---

The expert arrived with a huff and a small exclamation of horror. "Hell's fire and damnation"

Duo grinned at the man,"Working on it, pal."

"Well, what's the problem. Boss said you were stuck."

Duo explained what he was trying to do and the officer shrugged. "Well, slap my ass and call me Shirley" Duo grinned at him and said he'd rather call him Charles.

Charles laughed and picked up the EP-41. "Nice stuff. Powerful. I don't care for it myself. It's a bit too powerful. Very stable though. Let me think."

Duo continued to make pea-sized balls of the explosive while he considered what to do about a detonator.

"Gunpowder and low impact flash powder. Mix it together and . . ."

Duo eyed the man with a blazing grin. "Now why the hell didn't I think of that. A little flint gravel added to the mix. Make the balls hollow and stuff 'em. Thanks man. Now all I have to do is get hold of the stuff."

"Not a problem. I've got some in my kit. I'll just fetch it. You start reforming those balls. I'll bring the powder and make the mix for you."

Charles hurried off to find his kit and bring Duo the materials. Duo started reforming the balls into two hollow halves. His hands moved quickly while he went over his plans again.

Charles came back with his kit and mixed his contribution. Duo loaded several hemispheres with the powder and called Heero over.

"I'm going to give this a try, you might make an announcement over the common channel so no one has a fit."

Heero did as Duo asked and most of the members of the crew that could came out to see the 'fireworks'

Duo tossed one of the spheres on the ground. It exploded with a sharp bang. Duo shook his head. The explosion wasn't strong enough. He tried another, again with disappointing results. He examined the spheres in his hand for a moment then tried yet another. The explosion was loud and the flash blinding. Duo nodded with satisfaction, this one was just right.

"Ok Charles. You want to help me make these. I could really use the help. I need to get this done fairly quickly. I need a nap in the worst way."

Charles just nodded and smiled. "Sure thing, Major. I'll be glad to help. It'll be something to tell my kids about. Besides being the most fun I'm liable to have on this assignment."

Someone made a smart remark about Duo needing a nap. Duo just turned in the general direction of the voice and remarked, "Well,I guess I could just stay up until midnight, but then I'd be running on . . . about four hours sleep out of thirty-six. Not really good. Might mess up and blow someone's ass to kingdom come. Accidentally. Sleep deprivation and all that."

He turned without further comment but was secretly delighted to hear a meaty smack and someone say, 'Way to go, jackass.'

He returned to his workbench to finish his preparations. He noticed that the extra guns and knife were gone. Smiling he started making his 'flash-bangs'.

---

Duo gazed at the blue print and swore a blue streak. "I so don't need this. Damn, fuck, shit, and schist. I need measurements."

Heero tapped at his computer and pulled up the specs on the vent tunnel.

They had found out that the vent was bared. Now they had to find out how far apart the bars were and where they were in the vent. Heero grumbled to himself as he searched, "damned paranoid ass holes, what the hell decided them to bar a vent tunnel."

Zechs over heard his grumbling and remarked. "Oh, someone managed to shimmy himself into someone'sheavily guarded office and steal some extremely classified information. Now who could it have been?" He tapped his chin with one patrician finger. "Could it have been our resident long-haired Shinigami? What do you think?"

Heero sighed. "I think Duo was entirely too busy during the war."

The computer beeped softly and Heero checked the results of his search through the architects' files. There was a file on the vent. Heero downloaded it and glared at it. He had gotten a full size blue print plotter brought up to the staging area so he could print out files for just such a situation as this. He printed out the relevant file and eyed it with revulsion. He hated tight quarters.

Duo eyed the prints with a jaundiced eye as well. "Well, hell on a mop stick. This is tighter than an old maid's corset. Heero?" Heero grunted, here it came. "What the hell is a corset and why is it tight?"

"You ask the damnedest questions. I'm not sure what it is. Can you get through this?"

Duo checked the specs. "Yeah, but it's gonna limit the gear I can carry. Severely. Unless you can come up with some ideas."

Heero bit at his lip and nearly gutted the man who walked up behind him and swore. He turned with a snarl.

"Do. Not. Do. That. You're going to get killed. What?"

"Christ! Calm down. I just came to see the prints. My dad helped build that place. I know some things, just wanted to help."

Duo patted the man on the arm. "Don't let him get to you. It's just that you nearly got yourself done for. We're all strung a little tight. And this last bit of intel didn't do us any good."

"Oh that. Well. The bars in that vent aren't up to spec. The shipment of steel was mild instead of tempered. They went ahead and used it anyway and the bars aren't a foot apart, they're more like eighteen inches. There wasn't enough steel either."

Duo gave a sigh of relief. "Sorry we snapped at you. That's great intel."

The man walked away with a friendly wave. "Well, glad I could help. Sorry I scared you. Good luck."

Duo thought fast, he was in trouble but it wasn't as serious as they had thought at first. He could get in, with a significant amount of equipment. Equipment that prepared him for several eventualities. Thank god.

Heero leaned over his shoulder after clearing his throat to let Duo know he was there. "How's it going?"

"Not bad. That guy had an idea. I probably would have thought of it sooner or later. But it's good I don't have to, don't need the worry. I'll be going in just after dark instead of at midnight. It'll take me longer to eel my way around the blockades. Damn. But, I'll call you when I'm in position, you tell the negotiator and we'll take it from there. May get some of the hostages out. May not."

Heero rubbed his hands up and down Duo's upper arms, stroking from neck to shoulder to elbow and back. "We probably can get many of the women out. It's bound to be causing problems from the wilder types. If they rape the women, they've lost a significant bargaining chip. So the head honchos might be willing to send them out to get the power back on. Are you going to stay there until you get a signal to turn the electric back on?"

Duo shook his head. "Naw, it'll take at least two days to get results. The negotiator said so. So, I'll come back. When it's time to turn it back on, they'll demand direct access to the generator rooms. Not sure why and I don't care."

"Who's the head negotiator? I need to know his name so we can coordinate."

"Oh, his name is Abrams. Nice guy." Duo continued to absently reply to Heero as he directed most of his attention to his gear. Heero admired him for a few seconds then announced that he was going to make contact with Abrams now. "Ok, lover. Kiss and go."

Heero obligingly kissed Duo spending a bit of time making sure that Duo was well aware of him. Duo kissed back with a focused passion that left them both a little breathless.

Heero walked off to find Abrams, touching his kiss swollen lower lip with one finger.

—

Heero went to his station in the command tent and set up Duo's electronics. He was going to take care of all of his equipment himself to make sure it was just as Duo liked it. He was interrupted by the king of Geeks himself. His nasalvoice grated across Heero's nerves

"I'll have ta check everything you've done. Regulations. Sheriff can't help you there. Just make sure that you don't redo anything after I'm done."

Heero didn't bother to argue with the man. The idiot had been a pain in Heero's ass since they'd arrived. He was into every bit of electronics around, 'fixing' things to suit himself rather than making sure they were actually useable.

"Touch anything and I'll cut off your fingers and feed them to you. Go tell the sheriff I want him."

"You're darn tootin' I'll call the sheriff. Ya can't threaten me like that. I'll have the law on you."

Heero gave Mackie a cold stare. "I'm so scared. Go away."

"I'm tellin' you, you don't run the show here, I do. And I'm runnin' it my way. I'm the electronics expert, and who the hell are you? Just some kid."

Heero rolled his eyes, some people had their heads so far up their asses they were looking out their nose. He didn't have time for this and he certainly didn't what this man messing with his gear after he got it calibrated and set up.

"You're wrong. I'm running this show. And you won't touch this gear after I'm done with it. If you do and Duo gets so much as a hangnail. I. Will. Kill. You. Do you understand me?"

The sheriff came in just then and announced that he was going to know what was going on and right now. Mackie whined and complained, telling the sheriff his story, slanted his way. The sheriff took one look at Heero and another at Mackie and shrugged.

"He's a Gundam pilot. You're just a half-assed computer jockey that the County Commissioners hung around my neck like a mill stone. You're just the nephew of one of them. I don't mind usually because you can't really fuck up much. But if you mess with this gear I'll arrest you for interfering with an officer during the execution of his duties. And I'll get you fired. You understand?"

Mackie blinked. "Well, yeah, but . . . he's not supposed to do anything without me telling him too. Daddy said. And he'll get you in trouble if you don't make him mind me. I'll tell him."

Sheriff Haskins shook his head, glanced at Heero and grumbled. "If only someone would back me up on this, I'd get rid of the little shit."

Heero grimaced, he could do this for the sheriff. "Excuse me, Sheriff. Could you step aside with me for a second. I need to speak to you privately."

The sheriff just shrugged and followed Heero.

"What cha need, son?"

Heero grinned at the sheriff. "Just a second or two. Just long enough for that ass the mess with the equipment. You see. We're all nominally Preventers. And if he messes with my stuff, which he will, couldn't keep his hands off it if it was hot. We'll have him dead to rights. And you can get rid of him. I'll file a complaint with Une herself. That'll have him spending some unpleasant time explaining things to one of her lieutenants. Hopefully La Catalonia."

And sure enough, they turned around just in time to see the smirking idiot detune Duo's communication gear. Heero just walked up, attached the module and checked the frequency. "It is now off by 590 mghtz. Just enough that we wouldn't be able to achieve a perfectly clear connection. I allowed for the concrete and steel thatthe signal would have to go through, he didn't. Sheriff Haskins I formally request that you remove him from his office and place him under arrest until further investigations can be conducted. Report this to Lady Une and have her make arrangements for Preventers to file charges too."

The sheriff happily arrested his nemesis himself and announced that Heero would have the paper work in fifteen minutes, or less.

Heero watched as the man was lead away whining and complaining all the way. Applause from several of the other people in the tent made him jump. He straightened his shoulders and returned to his work.

---

Duo slept for most of the afternoon as preparations went on around him. Wufei and Zechs both went over the blueprints looking for anything Heero or Duo might have missed. They all went over Duo's equipment with Zechs checking his explosives and Wufei all the electronics. Heero hovered. Wufei was coldlyefficient and sarcastic with everyone but the other pilots. Zechs was aristocratic, overbearing and arrogant. The sheriff was sharp, snapping at his subordinates, who took it with good-natured ease. Everyone was worried.

Heero went to call Duo, from now on, until the mission was complete, they would be all business. And god help the man or woman who did the wrong thing at the wrong time.

"Duo. It's time."

Duo rolled over and thumped his feet onto the floor. "Got my suit?"

"Yeah"

Duo took the bundle from Heero and shook it out. It was one of the newest Special Ops suits, skin tight so it didn't catch on anything, it was made of light absorbing materials. It wouldn't swoosh or make any sound when he moved. It also had attachment points for equipment harness. Duo wriggled into it without comment.

Heero started handing him equipment and helping him hook it to the harness. It didn't take them long to get Duo ready to work.

Contrary to popular belief Duo didn't let his braid swing free, he kept it under his clothing. Heero made sure Duo's braid was firmly tucked down the back of his suit with enough free play that he could turn his head freely.

"Ok. Suited and set."

"On station?"

"Give me five."

Duo watched as Heero headed for his communications station. They would run an equipment check and Duo would leave.

---

Duo grumbled softly into his mouthpiece. "Geez, Heero. This place gives me the creeps, all sorts of weird noises. And I don't care if it is an owl, it sounds like someone getting killed. Slow."

"Yeah it does. Do you see the vent entrance yet?"

Duo peered into the black jumble that was the vent housing. "Yeah. Right out in the open just like they said. I'll open the door and take a look."

"Careful. No one said anything about booby traps but you never know. Some warden might have gotten cute."

"Like I wouldn't think of that. But thanks for the heads up."

Duo poked the door carefully with a long stick he'd picked up off the ground. The door didn't swing open so it was probably locked. Duo was well aware that if the door wasn't locked kids would get in probably leaving the door ajar.

When he approached more closely, he could see that the door was not tampered with. The lock was still in place, the door closed firmly. Duo pulled his picking kit out and examined the lock while he fished in it for the appropriate bits of equipment.

It didn't take him more than a moment to open the door. The lock was a numerical code lock. The key pad enclosed in a small metal box without a lock. He plugged the cracker into it and tapped a key. It bleeped for a second and then opened the lock. Duo turned the knob and let the door swing into the black interior.

It might seem like over kill but Duo had learned the hard way that there was no telling what might be where. This time it was a rattlesnake on a shelf near the door. The snake rattled and coiled tighter. Duo took the stick and poked it. The snake hissed and started to rattle louder. Duo poked again. The snake decided that retreat was the better part of valor, uncoiled and with another threatening hiss oozed off the shelf and out the door. Duo let him go.

After checking for more snakes or other nasty surprises, Duo found the vent tunnel cover. The tunnel led into the main air-conditioning units of the prison. Itwas so far away to keep exhaust from the prison factories from being re circulated into the system. Duo grumbled a little. It was bound to be full of spiders and snakes and other obnoxious creatures. He just hoped there were no rats. He really, really hated rats. He wasn't afraid of them. He just hated the feel of their ratty little feet and claws scampering over his body. It didn't help that they weren't potty trained. They shit and pissed where they ran. He shuddered.

The entry to the tunnel was easy all he had to do was crawl in. The first several feet weren't that hard either. Then he came to the first set of rods. They were embedded in the concrete at angles to each other. Luckily the tunnel was square, if it had been round the possible angles might have made it impossible for him to eel his way around them.

As he progressed through the tunnel Duo had to wriggle his way through more and more tightly set bars. He realized that the tunnel had been built from the prison out. The final set of bars was the most difficult to get through. They were set eighteen inches apart in three sets. They were also at ninety degree angles to each other. Duo groaned as he contorted his body around them. All he could think was he was glad he was skinny and the suit was tight. He had to take off some of his equipment and push it ahead of himself.

All through this Duo kept up a constant stream of soft remarks, telling Heero what he was doing and where he was. Heero didn't reply, as it wasn't necessary and might distract him at the wrong time.

Duo finally made his way into the generator room. He had to cut his way out of the vent tunnel where it went from concrete to sheet metal. The tunnel was now a true vent continuing its way on into the air-conditioning system. Duo would close the hole he made with duct tape before he left to keep from fouling the air.

Duo hoped that his mission wasn't jinxed, something was, he could feel it. But so far so good.

He found the backup generators easily enough. He checked for some sort of manual shut off just in case. There wasn't one.

"Manual shut off, no go. Preparing to blow a fuse."

Duo waited for Heero's answer.

"Ok, blow a fuse. Mission go."

Duo checked the backup generators by eye. Sometimes changes were made, either before or after completion of a project. He didn't want to set his charges and then find out that something was different. The generators were exactly what the plans said they were and exactly where they should be. Duo set his charges and scouted the area. There were no people nearby, he even used a heat seeker to hunt for hot spots that would indicate people hidden in secret rooms. Nothing.

"Heero."

"Here."

"Ready."

"Steady"

"Go." Duo started out the same way he came in. He taped the duct work closed and eeled his way back out the tunnel. It took him just as long to get out as it had taken to get in. He knew the negotiators were talking furiously trying to get the inmates to cooperate and release at least some of the hostages.

When he reached the exit, he called Heero again.

"Heero. I'm out. Any change in status?"

"No. Blow a fuse when ready."

Duo grinned like a maniac. He'd realized early on that the main generators were inside the prison. The backups were under a parking lot outside the walls. The destruction of the backups would put the main generators off line for about an hour while the system reset itself. That would be a warning to the terrorists that they didn't have the upper hand they thought they did. He took out his detonator control and pressed the button.

The explosion was all he'd intended it to be. The charges he'd set reduced the generators to a mass of flying metal scraps. The parking lot whumped, bulged then erupted into a cloud of flying chunksof asphalt, dirt and metal. Duo wondered why he'd bothered to seal the vent tunnel. Sometimes his attention to detail was alittle anal. He shook his head at his foolishness and headed back to the command center.

---

Heero greeted him at the rise just outside of the center. He didn't give Duo a chance to speak, he just took him by one arm and started giving him a visual once over. Then he ran his hands over Duo's arms and legs, his back, abdomen and chest. Last Heero carefully smoothed Duo's face, pulled his braid out of his clothing and kissed him.

Duo sighed into Heero's arms and relaxed. "Heero, call me an idiot."

"You're an idiot . . . why?"

"Cut a hole in the vent to get in. Then I sealed it all up neat as you please." Heero made an inquiring noise. "Then I blew it all to hell. Sometimes I don't know."

"Don't worry about it. I've done similar things. Attention to detail. Usually we had to hide stuff like that. Stealth. Yeah?"

Duo snorted. "Yeah. Habit. And that'll whipsaw you every time. Take me in. I'm starved."

"Debrief."

"Fuck, Heero. You heard the entire thing and this isn't a war. We don't have to report to anal J anymore. I'm hungry and thirsty. Filthy too. I want food and a shower in that order. You want a debrief, you'll have to get it on the fly."

Heero thought for a few moments then shrugged. "Ok. Fuck debrief. If someone wants one they can aggravate you themselves. Ok?"

Duo nodded tiredly and headed for the mess tent.

He ached all over now and he was filthy. He couldn't eat before a mission like this. He usually threw up. So now he was starved and wanted a shower.

At the mess tent the cook had some sandwiches ready, along with hot sweet tea. Duo settled at a table and started to eat. Heero spoke into the mic attached to his collar.

"He's in. Mess tent. He's eating."

Wufei and Zechs showed up at a dead run a few seconds later. Duo nodded to them with a mouth full of tuna salad. They skidded to a halt and both men looked at Heero, Heero just nodded back.

Zechs went to the coffee pot and got a cup of coffee for himself and a tea for Wufei. Wufei settled across from Duo and demanded mission details. Duo started telling them everything he could think of about the mission. Ending, "well, it just went smooth as silk. So what's gonna jump up and bite us on the ass? Don't ask me, but I get a bad feeling about his whole thing."

Heero put his arm around Duo's shoulders. "Why? What's not up to spec? I'll fix it."

Duo leaned into Heero. "Don't know. That's what's got me so on edge. Nothing is really wrong. But something's not right. I . . . feel like I'm picking faults where there aren't any but . . . the back of my neck itches."

Wufei winced, Zechs raised an eye brow and Heero just rubbed his face with both hands. The last time Duo's neck had itched, they'd wound up separated; Heero in prison, Duo under house arrest at one of Quatre's estates.

"Damn."

Zechs leaned over to let Wufei whisper in his ear. "When Duo's neck itches something bad always happens. I don't know how he does it. He just does."

"I see. Not good then. We'll just have to be extra careful, Ming Long."

Wufei rubbed his stomach and just nodded.

The sheriff came in, distracting Zechs from the question he was going to ask.

"Well, we got 'em. They want the power turned back on and they've agreed to let all the women go, except Lady Relena of course. You did it, boy. I'm proud of ya."

Duo couldn't believe how good that made him feel. "Thanks, sheriff. You don't know what that means to me." He returned to his meal with a happy smile.

"Yeah, and we rigged up a tub for you. You'll like a hot bath better than a shower. Soak out the aches and pains"

Duo brightened, Heero smiled at the sheriff in genuine gratitude. He knew that Duo had contorted himself strenuously to get through the vent. He was going to hurt if something wasn't done. The bath and a good massage would keep him from waking up stiff.

"Thanks sheriff. I'll give him a massage too. He'll be fine by morning."

The sheriff smirked at Heero. "Well, that tub is big enough for four. So who's going to rub what isn't our business, now is it?"

Duo nearly choked on his coffee, Wufei snickered. Zechs just bowed gravely to the sheriff and announced that he was going to go check on the arrangements. He suggested that Wufei go collect clothing for all of them from their duffels. Wufei smiled at him and trotted off, whistling

---

The negotiator sighed. They'd managed to gain the release of all the women except Lady Relena. He hadn't expected to get that. He was satisfied with what they had.

"Captain Reese, the 'commander' wants you again."

The chief negotiator, addressed as Captain Reese, sighed again and got up to answer the vid. He was getting really tired of their unrealistic demands. If they'd ask for something real, he could maybe grant it. But billions of euros, luxury cars and arms? No.

"What can I do for you?" Captain Reese didn't bother with a smile. These guys were essentially idiots and didn't care if he smiled at them or not.

"We have new demands. No more messing with the utilities. We want one of the Gundam boys in here. And we want a ton of caviar, a thousand double magnums of champagne and . . . and . . . four hundred billion euros, cash."

The connection was shut off before Captain Reese could say anything. He sighed and rubbed his face. "Well fuck a duck. Now all I have to figure out is what we can give them and what they'll negotiate for. I'd like to get my hands on that guy for real. I'd break his jaw just to shut him up. Fuck."

He got up to go see the sheriff and find out what they could get for these idiots.

---

The sheriff eyed the written list of demands that the 'commander' had faxed out.

"Well, the champagne and caviar are out. As to the euros, just inform them that there isn't that much cash in print. There actually isn't, by the way."

Captain Reese blinked. "How do you know that?"

"Try playing Trivial Pursuits with my wife sometime. Woman is a treasure trove of completely useless information."

"I see. And weapons are definitely out. Cars? Could happen. But can you really see us giving them a Gundam pilot? Christ on a cracker."

The sheriff picked at his lower lip for a second, thinking quickly. "Ask them for more details on the pilot thing. Don't make any promises, not even a hint of a promise."

"Ok, Chief. I'll see what I can do. Those guys are . . . are . . . dumb as a box of rocks. What the hell would they do with a Gundam pilot? Doesn't make sense. They've got Lady Relena and we gotta get her back. Soon. Things are starting to come unraveled in there."

Captain Reese left to go see what he could find out about the 'Rock' gang's intentions towards the pilot they wanted.

---

Duo sank into the tub of hot, nearly steaming water and groaned. His filthy garment had been tossed aside by Heero, who had actually wrinkled his nose. Wufei and Zechs were already in the tub waiting on him. Heero dumped his clothing in the pile of dirty things and slipped in behind Duo.

Duo leaned forward to let Heero in behind him, his braid slipping over his shoulder. Heero caught it quickly before it could hit the water. Duo hated having to go to bed with wet hair. Heero hated anything Duo hated.

"Thanks, 'Ro. Lean back a little more." Heero leaned and Duo settled against his chest. "That's better. Comfortable"

"Yeah, are you?" Heero wrapped his arms around Duo, enjoying the feeling of closeness.

"Yeah. Man that was . . . easy in one way but rough in another. I kept expecting something . . . anything, to happen. But nothing ever did. I'm glad. I'm not in the mood for complicated planning. I just want to go in, grab Relena and get out. What are they doing to her while we're here, taking it easy."

Heero snarled softly, he was wondering the same things.

Zechs gritted his teeth. Relena and he had never been close. They'd been separated when she as just a baby, he little more than a toddler. But she was his sister and he was so worried he was almost frantic. He wasn't going to get to be close to her if something happened. He had all he could do to keep from jumping from the tub and trying to break into the prison with his bare hands.

"If we could only get someone inside." Wufei gentled Zechs with soft pats and soothing touches. "Someone with enough expertise to get messages out. Someone . . . shit."

Duo yawned, then said, "Yeah, that would be great. It wouldn't be that hard to get a wire hidden on someone. That bunch wouldn't know what they were looking at if the guy had an antennaup his ass. Geez."

Heero hugged Duo. "If we could get one of us inside, we'd have it made for sure. But you know as well as I do that that ain't gonna happen. It's too good to be true."

"Yeah, if it's too good to be true, it isn't. Hand me the soap, will ya?"

Wufei leaned back against Zechs. "If we could, who should it be?"

Heero thought for a few seconds. "Wufei."

Zechs let out a squawk. "Schist! Wufei!"

Duo blinked at Wufei for a moment. "Well, that's . . . why?"

"They're scared of me. Zechs is too close to the problem. . ."

Duo interrupted Heero. "Why not me?"

Heero gave Duo an indulgent look, pushing him away enough to see his face. "Because you, my beautiful lover, can't keep your mouth shut to save your life. Literally. Wufei won't talk himself into a smack down."

Duo started to say something indignant, grinned and allowed the Heero was probably right.

In case you've gotten confused, this is a break down of who's who in the negotiation team.

Chief officer is Wyncham

Public Relations is Abrams

Contact officer is Captain Reese


	42. Middle Game Move 2

The Price 42

---

Betaed by Skippyscatt

---

Duo watched as Zechs took Wufei away to speak privately. He didn't like this much, but he knew that it was the only way. He wondered if Heero had a backup plan or was just going along with the negotiators.

Heero walked up behind Duo. Putting his arms around him he asked, "Notmad are you?"

Duo snorted, "Me? Actually, no. I know you're right. I'll say something stupid and get my slats stove in. But you nearly gave Zechs an aneurism."

Heero nibbled at Duo's ear. "I know. He'll get over it. I have to go see the sheriff. I need to get hold of a man about a set of specialty chains."

Duo immediately had questions which Heero answered with a small smirk.

---

Sheriff Haskins looked up from his papers with a sigh, "boy, I know I'm not going to like what you're going to say. I can tell by your face. So, spit it out."

Heero couldn't help but grin at the sheriff. He regarded the man in the light of a particularly grumpy uncle. "Ok. I need to speak to Fitz, at the chain gang HQ."

"Old Fitz that makes the leg irons? What the hell for?" Heero could tell from the sheriff's face that he already didn't like things and he didn't even know what they were yet.

"I need him to make me a set of irons. Full transport set . . . and can I ask what your first name is?"

"Leviticus, call me that an' I'll whip your ass. Figuratively speaking. Call me Levi. Now what the hell do you need those for?"

Heero told him and nearly jumped out of his skin at the reply.

"No! Not only no, but hell no. God damn fucking no way in hell no. I'm not turning one of you over to those maniacs. Not a chance. For. Get. It." Levi slapped his hand down on the nearby table, making it rock. "You boys. And you are boys. You should be doing what ever it is boys do. TP-ing the court house, tying cans to the frame of a cruiser, hanging out at the mall. Whatever. Not offering up one of yourselves as a sacrifice. Damn, son, I know you know what you're doing, but you can just forget it. Find another way."

Heero blinked at Levi for a moment. "Take it easy, don't pop your cork. Wufei is as good at this as any of us. I've got it all planned with the negotiator. All we need is a little tweaking here and there. Talk to Wyncham, he'll explain it all to you. I've got to get hold of Fitz. I'm going to find him myself." Heero left before the sheriff could blast him again, calling for a driver as he went.

One of the Spec Ops team decided he didn't have anything better to do than take Heero around, so he offered to drive him. Heero smiled at the man and remarked that they could compare scars or something.

---

The drive didn't take long so they didn't actually compare scars but they did talk about missions and the vagaries of Command. They both agreed that Command was necessary but did they have to be such assholes?

"Well, we're here. What do you need? Can I help?" Dale parked the jeep they'd come down the mountain in and leaned back in his seat.

"I need chains for Wufei. Special ones. I'm hoping a trustee here can make them for me." Heero got out of the jeep and headed for the door.

Special Operations Officer Dale grimaced. "And just how the hell do you know this con?"

Heero couldn't help the rather mean grin. "He made my gang irons. I figure he can do what I need."

S.O.O. Dale just goggled at Heero as he knocked firmly on the door then opened it and entered.

He was greeted by Fitz himself. "Well, boy, sad to see you here again. I thought you got out."

"Did." Heero settled into the chair Fitz pushed his way.

"So, why you here then?"

"Need something."

Fitz made a disgusted face. "You gonna tell me or do I need a crow bar."

Heero shrugged. He was going to enjoy this as much as possible. "Crow bar? I'm as verbal as . . . ."

"…Your ordinary clam. Boy, you want, you ask. So talk."

Fitz listened carefully as Heero described exactly what they were doing and what he needed. When Heero was finished, Fitz rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, hell. You really are one of the Gundam pilots, aren't you?"

Heero nodded, grinning. "Yup. That's me. Why I was inside. I'm supposed to be the commanding officer. Not really, but there you are. Why?"

Fitz grinned back at Heero then turned around and yelled, "Hey. Perkins. You owe me twenty. He's the real deal. **'**A shouted, 'well shit' was his answer.

"Ok, how we going to do this? I could come there but I need tools. Can you bring your man here?"

Heero bit at his lip. Zechs was going to be difficult no matter what. And he needed Duo too. He sighed softly. "No one likes this at all. I'll call and see what they want to do. You need tools you have here. I'm not sure what tools we need from there. It'll take a bit to set up. Got any real suggestions?"

Fitz picked at a hangnail as he thought. "You really sure you want to expose your friends to this"

"I'm sure I don't, but I don't have much choice. Wufei and Zechs are an item. Duo's my partner. Besides, we're more liable to corrupt you than the other way around. Just one thing. . ." Fitz raised an eye brow. "Don't touch Duo's braid. He'll gut you."

Fitz raised his hands in a 'wouldn't think of it gesture' and started making notes.

Heero called Duo who took about two minutes to check what tools and equipment he'd need and came back to say that they would be there in twenty minutes. "If Wufei doesn't kill Zechs first. I tell ya. He's making us both nuts. Like some kind of big, blond, Germanic fuss budget. If he doesn't quit, I swear I'm handcuffing him to something the size of Mt. Rushmore. Be there in a few." Duo hung up and yelled at Wufei and Zechs to put wheels under it and come on. Zechs poked his head out of their tent and yelled that they were coming. Duo recognized the strain in his voice.

It didn't take them long to get down to the Sheriff's substation and find Heero.

---

Wufei stood stoically to be measured by Fitz. Zechs paced frenetically in the back ground. All he could think was; why Wufei, why not someone else. Why not him. Relena was his sister after all so,why not he instead of his young, beautiful lover. This didn't make sense. He couldn't seem to get himself calm. And he needed to be calm for Wufei it wouldn't do for him to fall apart now.

Zechs returned to Wufei in time to hear him say, "I don't like it. What if they find the wiring, or something fails. One of the links could be too strong or too weak. Anything . . . I'm just . . ."

"Not comfortable with the whole idea." Zechs finished for him. "And quite right. I'm not comfortable with the whole idea. I . . . Relena is my sister and I'd do almost anything for her. But I can't be happy with this. Wufei put his life on the line for her and peace time after time. Lost his whole family. Now, when we should all be settling into something . . . I have no words for it . . . we're back on the front lines. I get out of prison and right back to doing what I was incarcerated for." He made a disgusted face. "And I'm rambling like a crazy man." The stream of curse words amused Heero and Wufei, who understood him. Fitz just shook his head.

"Look mister. I do good work. I been doin' this for years. I can make a set of irons for anybody. I can make them light or heavy. Easy or hard. And, as to this jiggering a set, not a problem. I'll make the chains standard except for one link. I'll have to chrome plate it, but I'll make it of soft steel. All he'll have to do is twist it and it'll open. I got a few ideas about other little kinks too. So why don't you settle somewhere and cuddle the boy. He don't look happy either. Heero, I need to talk to you, or whoever it is that's got the goods."

Duo raised a hand. "That'd be me. I have a transmitter and an antenna that need to be hidden it the things somewhere. I'll show it to you and we'll see what we can do." Duo hopped down from the counter top where he'd been sitting sniping at Wufei as Fitz measured him.

Wufei glowered at him for a moment but gave it up as Duo just gave him a maniacal grin and the bird.

Duo turned to Fitz. "What did you have in mind for the master link? I can machine almost anything. And the transmitter isn't very big, so if we . . . ." The conversation faded away as Fitz and Duo walked deeper into the shop. Wufei sighed and rubbed his face.

"Zechs, you must keep yourself together. I don't like this any better than you do, but what can we do but give them what they want. We have to find Relena. That place is huge, meant to keep more than three thousand men. She could be anywhere inside. You know they'll put me in with her. If for no other reason than that we are the only two prisoners there now. So be calm. Just . . . hold me will you? I'm, quite frankly, scared. Duo has a bad feeling about this whole mission and so do I. I'll deny it to my last breath, but . . ." Wufei was silenced by Zechs's nearly frantic kiss.

---

Heero watched Wufei and Zechs for a few moments then went in search of Duo. He wanted to know exactly what his two co-conspirators were up to.

What he found out was interesting. Duo and Fitz were deep in conversation when he caught up to them, settling himself on a chair he listened in.

"Well, we could use part of the cuff as the . . . no, that won't work. Too near the ground."

Fitz handled a band of metal expertly. "See. If I cut just a little out here, we can put the transmitter right in the cuff. If he will wear the old style irons, we can use one of the straights as an antenna . . ."

Duo frowned. "Don't know what you're talking about. Straights? What's that?"

Fitz picked up a set of leg irons. Duo recognized them as the type Heero had worn. "Look here. See, old time people were different, they took care of stuff different. We copied the style from a kind used in the early 20th. A leg iron will wear as the con walks, it'll take the skin clear off, so they made the irons with an up right strap of steel. See?" Fitz held up one circle of the cuffs. "This upright goes up the outside of the leg and the leather fastens around the leg under the knee. Keeps the cuff from turning on your ankle. Keeps a guy from getting shackle poisoned." Duo fingered the contraption and asked "What's that?"

"Infection. Starts in the raw and travels into your system. It'll kill you slow." Fitz smiled grimly. "Haven't had a case of it here in . . . well, ever. Not that I recall nor the guy who taught me neither. So . . . what do you think."

Duo eyed the shackles. "I think these are perfect. We can make the bands a little thicker and use a sloppy looking weld to hide the transmitter. If you make a belt of riveted leather, it'll distract from the leg irons. And we can use the chain from the middle of the leg chain to the belt for the antenna. The rivets will hide all kinds of stuff. I bet we could even get a camera in if we fiddle enough. What do you think?"

Fitz just shook his head. "I think I don't want to know how you got all that in your head already. If we make a master link out of mild steel he'll be able to break it?"

Duo nodded absently. "Yeah. Heero, we wouldn't have to worry about that. Just chain him up and go on. But Wufei isn't as strong as Heero so we have to jigger it. I'll mill up the link and we can chrome plate the whole deal. Look good, hide a multitude of stuff in some flash. What do you think?"

They both laughed at the return question.

Fitz handed Duo a block of mild steel and a link to copy. "I think you better get on the ball, son. We got how long to get this done?"

Heero interjected. "About six to eight hours. Then they'll start asking uncomfortable questions. I'll see if I can't get a mini-cam from somewhere."

Duo pointed to the door. "Get that guy who drove you to take you over to the station. Go in the trailer and back about two-thirds of the way. Top shelf. Cubby E-14 or 15. There's a bunch of mini electronics. I think I saw just what I want there. Morefield 24-5 EJG. Real nice. About the size of the end of your finger. We can probably hide it in the buckle of the waist strap. If not I'll figure out something else."

Heero left to get what Duo wanted, giving Wufei and Zechs a sympathetic look as he went.

—

When Heero returned, Duo was fussing with a belt around Wufei's waist. Wufei looked like he'dswallowed a bug and was being petted by Zechs. Heero knew that the whole thing had to be embarrassing for Wufei and wondered whether Zechs was making it better or worse. He decided to let it go.

"Duo, I got what you wanted and I found some other stuff that was interesting. There's a note here that I'm sure you didn't see, as it's not opened. It's from Une."

Duo made a face. "No, I didn't see it. If I had, I doubt I would read it anyway. Woman gets on my nerves. Read it to me will you?"

Heero opened the note and read it through once. Then he read it again. "Well, I'll be dipped in shit."

"What?"

Heero cleared his throat. "Everybody come here." Wufei and Zechs stepped closer to hear what Heero had to say. "Une says that we are authorized to do whatever is necessary. Including blow up the entire prison as long as Relena comes out unscathed. Nice to know that at any rate. So . . . we have a few more options and I need to make another trip to the war chest."

Wufei rubbed at his stomach and grimaced. "And the pharmacy, I need some more stomach powders."

Duo looked at Wufei, concern shining in his eyes. "You alright? I think you should see a doctor. You've had a sensitive stomach every since Heero went up the river. Or what ever."

Zechs started to say something but a glare from Wufei shut him up. "I'll see a doctor when this is over. I'm just going to have to tough it out until then. Now . . . powders, Heero, please. Zechs, not a word, we've already gone over this. I don't care to hear it again." Zechs glowered sullenly at Heero who glowered right back. Heero grunted and nodded at Zechs who nodded back. They would drag Wufei to a doctor when this mess was done with. Wufei shook his head at Duo and went to ask Fitz a question.

---

Heero sighed, he didn't want to go back down to the sheriff's station alone. Dale had gotten a call and had to leave him at the station. Heero didn't know why and didn't ask. It wasn't his business.

Fitz noticed Heero standing in the open door and turned to Duo. "Why don't you both go to the station. I don't really need you here just yet. Machining those master links won't take you but a second or two. So go on."

Duo grinned at Fitz. "The master links are in the works right now. I used the 3-D scanner to make a jig. Then I set up the automatic machine tool to make several of them. If it was something else, I'd hand machine it, but it's just a link. The machine will do it just as good as I could. So . . yeah, I think I'll go with Heero. See you on the flip side."

Duo hurried out into the sunny parking lot. "Hey! Heero! Wait up. I'll go too. I got the system set up to copy that link and it's not like I have to stand over the damn thing."

Heero smiled happily. They took their pleasures where they could when they were on a mission. And this was a mission. Duo hurried to catch up with him so they could walk to the jeep together.

After he was settled in the jeep Duo stretched and sighed. "Heero, we have to get Wuffers to the vet as soon as this mission is over. Those pains aren't going away, even with the powders. And they're the most potent medicine you can get over the counter"

Heero grunted. "Yeah, I know. He's taking an awful lot of them. I don't like it either. Zechs is fit to be tied. You know Wufei, though. He won't interrupt a mission for anything less than getting gut shot."

Duo grunted back and settled to enjoy the ride. He found it pathetic and amusing that Heero was the only driver he really trusted, the only one who didn't have him tense and jumpy. Which was a little strange as Heero drove like a maniac.

It didn't take them long to get to the sheriffs station. They parked in the back parking lot near the trailer and checked in with the officer there. He was the same one Duo had dealt with before. He smiled vaguely at Duo and asked him if he'd mind waiting for a few seconds as he had to check on the arrival of the last of their equipment.

"Last of the equipment? What are you talking about? I thought that Une just sent up what's in there." Duo pointed at the trailer.

"She did. But there's something coming from Winner. Don't know what, just that it's big."

Heero and Duo exchanged looks. Something from Quatre? Heero shrugged.

"We'll hang around as long as it takes."

Duo leaned against a wall and just watched traffic going by. Heero stood for a few minutes then leaned beside him. They had a while to wait but neither one really cared. They were alone for the first time in several days and, while they couldn't indulge in anything more than a few caresses and kisses it was good.

Heero pointed at a motorcycle. "I really would like to have one of those. Nice."

Duo snorted. "A lay-me-down? You're nuts. Those things are awful. Uncomfortable, unstable and down right dangerous. Harley, that's the way to go. Power, balance, great image. Longevity. Things are made of iron. Literally. And they go great on diesel, those others, you have to use gasohol and they run so hot you'll fry your butt."

Heero snickered. He just loved winding Duo up and listening to him rant about carbon-based fuel machinery.

Just looking at the two boys leaning against a wall talking about motorcycles no one would ever have guesses that they were two of the most dangerous men in the solar system. They looked like best friends just hanging out.

don't forget yanagihd.jpeg Pic for website. 

---

Heero blinked then levered himself away from the wall. "Do you hear that?"

Duo nodded, eyes wide. "Two tractor-trailer rigs. Heavy load." He turned to look into Heero's eyes. "No, couldn't be."

Heero shook his head. "You're right, couldn't be."

They both turned to the entrance of the parking lot. Duo clutched at Heero's arm. Heero just stood there with a stupid grin on his face.

It couldn't be a Gundam, but it was.

Heero hurried to the cab of the first truck and nearly dragged the driver out of his seat. The man didn't seem afraid. He was grinning too.

"Hey, I hope to hell you're Yuy, other wise I'm gonna be pissed. Unless you're Maxwell."

Heero shook himself like a dog shedding water. "I'm Yuy. Sorry about that. But if that isn't a Gundam, I'm a fairy princess."

The driver threw back his head and laughed. "Love to see you in a pink tutu. That's technically not a Gundam because it's not made of Gundanium. It's made of one of those new carbon-based synthetics that WEI has been working on for the last year. Mr. Winner sent a message. So . . ."

Duo jumped Heero with a truly evil grin on his face. "It's Scythe. It's my old buddy. God damn. I'm so happy I could just . . ." Duo kissed Heero with all the passion he felt, Heero kissed back bruising both of them. Neither one noticed.

After they got themselves together again, they unloaded the machines. The drivers admitted that they had no idea how to move the mecha so Duo and Heero climbed into the machines and activated the controls. The machines lumbered to their feet.

After getting the mecha off the trailers Duo and Heero both rode the winch cables down to the ground, completely ignoring the crowd that had already gathered.

"There's a message? We need to see it quickly."

The driver just nodded at Heero and said that they needed to wait until Duo and the other driver were there. It didn't take long for Duo to get there. He just poked Heero in the ribs grinning like a lunatic.

---

"Hello. I'm so sorry that I can't talk to you directly. We're . . . Trowa and I, that is . . . are at L5-Chang. As you know, we're rebuilding the colony. I truly regret that you can't be here. I've tried to get you off Earth since Trowa and I escaped. And, it was an escape. Anyway. I heard that Relena was captured by some fools who are trying to reopen hostilities. This will not happen. I've sent you a little present. They're not Gundams. They're made of a new synthetic that is harder than Gundanium and easier to work with. I'll show you the process when I can. I've threatened to call the stuff Relenium just to aggravate her. But so far we've actually been calling it Neo-Gundanium. Whatever. Make good use of the mecha. As I know you will. I miss you all, my good friends. Trowa sends his best regards. We are hoping to see you in person soon. Good-bye."

Duo whooped in delight. "We can go help build Chang. Wufei will love it. I want this cursed mission over. Heero, we could build a new life there. One where we're not always looking over our shoulders and worrying. What do you say?"

Heero eyed the neo-gundam. It looked just like Wing Zero. "I say. I want to go to L5-Chang and build a colony. Sounds like fun. Now . . . we need to get these machines under cover before the news hounds get here. Come on."

Duo pouted slightly. "And how are we going to do that. And let me gloat just a little ok?"

Heero snorted. "I have a good idea where we can go with the Neo-Gundams. And isn't that a clumsy name? There's a barn near where the HQ is. We can just fly there and walk them in."

Duo nodded. "Yeah, and how do we get back to Wufei and Zechs? The jeep is there."

Heero shook his head. "I'm not worried about that. Fitz can take care of the irons by himself. You coming was just an excuse for me to maul you. Not that you mind much. So, I'll call and tell Zechs what's going on and tell him to bring Wufei, the irons and the jeep and meet us back at HQ."

Duo nodded. "Ok. Sounds good to me. Let's get going . . . man, oh, man. I can't wait. Scythe . . . and did you notice that the harness is better and the com system isn't stuck right over head. And . . ." Duo trailed off with a sheepish grin. "Ok, ok. Let's get it on the stick."

---

They took the machines, which Duo promptly christened N-Gundams, to the barn and walked inside. The barn was huge, obviously meant for more than just farm machinery, but it barely held the standing machines.

After Duo kissed Heero one more time, they headed for the HQ, no more than a mile away. Heero couldn't help comparing his last run through the area with this one.

"What?" Duo had heard Heero's soft chuckle.

"Last time I ran through here. Fire was nipping at my heels. It's much nicer this time."

Duo yelped loudly and broke his mile eating trot into a smooth run. Heero followed knowing that Duo would slow down soon.

Duo slowed after just a few yards but he kept looking back at Heero. "Come on, buddy. Keep up."

Heero snickered. "Why. I like the view from here."

Duo gave a mock growl and fell back to pace Heero.

They trotted in companionable silence for the rest of the trip. As they trotted into the HQ Duo skidded to a halt, the K-9 units were working out. They didn't see much need for them but they were here in case. Heero patted Duo on the shoulder.

"What?"

Duo nestled against Heero's side. "I miss Binky. Stupid, maybe, but I do. I got an email from Joe last night with a picture. She looks good. But he says she misses me too."

Heero just hugged Duo and started to turn away. A big man saw them and called over, "Hey, the dogs won't bite you. If you want to come over, come on."

Duo looked at the dogs, most of them were Rotewilers or Sheapards. There was a Doberman as well. But they were dogs and he did miss Binky. "Could we?"

Heero nodded, he wasn't afraid of dogs as long as they were well trained. The badly trained ones just engendered the urge to shoot "Sure. I don't see why not."

They wandered over and settled down with the men. "We really should check in you know."

Heero sighed. "I'll go check in. You stay here. Have fun. I'll be back in a few." Heero leaned down and kissed Duo on the top of the head. Duo smiled up at him then turned to talk to the man who'd invited them over.

"My name's Bud, and that's Joker. I overheard you. I guess the wind is in the right direction. You miss your dog?"

Duo smiled at Bud. "Yeah, you'll laugh I guess. But I sure do. She's so sweet. She just follows me everywhere. She's with her handler at home."

"You got a handler for your dog? Why don't you train her yourself?"

Duo flushed slightly. "I do, but I can't bring her to work with me. It's too dangerous for her."

Several other men had gathered around and were dropping into the conversation as people will. Another officer asked, "Dangerous for her? How's that?"

Duo grinned a little self-consciously. "Well, she's just a little thing. She's a Maltese. I rescued her. I've never had a pet of any kind, never mind a dog. So Quatre and Zechs helped me get a good handler for her. So we'd be sure she was taken care of when I can't be around."

"I see. A Maltese? Kind a small."

Another man snorted. "A Maltese is all heart and no sense. Cute dog." He turned to Duo. "Got a show coat I suppose."

Duo shook his head. "Naw, she was all matted when I got her. She's got a teddy bear."

The conversation turned to other dog matters and several handlers let their dogs come up to Duo. He was delighted that they let him pet them, in fact he wound up in a pack of slobbering, playful dogs who begged to be stroked and petted by him. Several of the men were surprised to see him so delighted by something so simple.

Heero finally had to call Duo to come to the HQ to talk to the sheriff. Duo left reluctantly giving each dog a final pat and thanking the handler for letting him socialize with the dogs.

---

"Well, what now? Thanks for letting me have time with the dogs. I miss Binky a bunch."

Heero smiled at Duo gently. "Believe it or not, I miss her too. Itwas nice to have something . . . one? . . . whatever, that loves so unconditionally. I sent a mail just now to check on her. Maybe get a picture or two." Heero shook himself. "Back to business. Wufei and Zechs have just gotten back from Fitz. The irons are great. Look like they'd hold an elephant, but I tested the master links a bit. They'll break fairly easily. Wufei can do it with a little effort."

Duo nodded. "Which is good. Wouldn't do for him to trip and just have them part like paper. So . . . did you tell them about the N-Gundams?"

Heero shook his head. "I made an excuse with the sheriff, but I . . . have a gut feeling the fewer people who know about them for now the better off we'll be. So we'll surprise them later."

Wufei was waiting for them at the open flap of their tent. His expression was sour to say the lease.

"Well, Maxwell if you're through playing with the dogs. We need to get on with this. Fitz fitted the manacles and straps to me, but he said he's not an electrician so you'd have to put in the transmitter and hook up the antenna and camera."

Duo ducked his head a bit. "Sorry, 'Fei, it's just that I miss Binky."

Wufei smiled a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry if I'm a bit snappish. I kind of miss her too. She was . . . nice to pet." Wufei looked a little lost. "I think I'll go have a little work out while you do that. Take my mind off things a bit . . . if you don't mind."

Duo smiled gently at his friend. "Geez, like I mind. Go, work out. Take Zechs with you. He looks like he's about to puke." Duo moved over to Wufei and put his arms around his friend. "I don't mind you're bitchy. I'd be too under the circumstances."

Zechs joined the hug with Heero right behind him. They all stood with their arms around each other, Wufei in the middle for a few moments. Then they broke apart each man going to his own pursuit.

---

Zechs watched as Heero and Duo bent over the chains, heads together as they figured out exactly how they wanted to fix them. Then he went in search of Wufei.

He found him in the makeshift workout area. Zechs decided that Wufei needed to blow off some steam so he didn't go up to him, he just watched as Wufei took off his shirt and pulled something out of his pocket.

Wufei stepped into the middle of the makeshift ring and settled his mind. He was going to do an incredibly dangerous kata. The gathered men whispered between themselves, some of the more knowledgeable finally shushed them into silence.

When he was ready Wufei sprang into action and Zechs found out why Wufei had calluseson his sides, shoulders and thighs. He was using his body as a stop for the chain dart.

The dart was nothing more than a surveyor's plumb bob attached firmly to a thin chain.

Wufei started by whirling the dart gently in one hand the dart circling gently at the end of its chain.

Then he threw the dart and snapped it back to his side, twisting he wrapped the chain around his torso. He did this several times. Then he started on the more complicated moves, throwing the dart while spinning, kicking and leaping. Several of the watchers gasped as Wufei flipped the dart out, pulled it back and wrapped it around his waist all while doing a horizontal spin kick. He did it again only with a back flip. He went through all the different movements possible, combinations of back flips, kicks, spins, forward flips, kips and jumps all the while the flickering dart danced around his body.

Wufei continued working with the dart, his katas becoming more and more complicated with each pass until it looked like he was doing a gymnastic exercise in the middle of a glittering ball.

It was a shock when he stopped. He just suddenly went completely still and allowed the chain to wrap itself around his arms then over them around his waist. Wufei stood for a moment breathing heavily.

Zechs picked up a towel and went to him. He unwrapped the chain and coiled it in his hand. Wufei took the towel from him and wiped his face. "Thank you. I feel better."

Zechs made a face. It was hard to describe it, a combination of love, despair, and anger. "I don't like this at all. What if . . ."

Wufei held up a hand. "We could 'what if' until dooms day. I will do what I must as we all do. You'll wait until I come out again. Just as Heero does for Duo and Duo for Heero. Now stop it. Come comb my hair."

Wufei turned and headed for the showers with Zechs trailing behind. Mutters of wonder following them

---

Heero straightened up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think that's got it. I need to see it locked. You sure that chain will do the trick?"

Duo nodded. "Yeah, I tested it twice. Better buckle the belt too. I need to see if the camera is hidden properly."

Duo went over everything for the third time. "I really need to see it locked too. Better call 'Fei and tell him we need a fitting. See if you can't find something for Zechs to do. He's going nuts right now. Too much time to think. So . . ."

Heero nodded. "I know exactly how he feels. I always hated it when you went off on a solo mission. Drove me crazy too. I'll go see what I can do about something for Zechs. You go tell Wufei you want to chain him up."

Heero left as quickly as he could with Duo yelling after him. "Yeah! Thanks! Let me take the heat. Nothing like a pissy dragon to ruin my day. Coward!"

Heero hunted up Zechs and found him with Wufei in their tent. Wufei was changing clothes after his shower. Zechs was gazing at him with his heart in his eyes.

"Sorry to break in on this, but, Wufei Duo wants you to try on those transports to make sure everything still fits right and nothing shows. And I need you, Zechs, to do some work for me."

Zechs wasn't stupid, nor was he ignorant of the ploys commanders used to settle their men. But he didn't want to sit around and worry either. Busy work was better than no work. "What do you need?"

Heero nodded to the HQ electronics tent. "Set up all the com equipment we're going to use. And stand over it. Don't let anyone touch it. Once we get it right on frequency, we don't want anyone messing with it. Got me?"

Zechs, remembering the trouble they'd already had, agreed readily and headed for the tent after a quick kiss from Wufei.

Wufei followed Heero out into the bright sun. "You know he's going to go mad if anything happens to me. Take care of him, please?"

Heero didn't try to pretend that he didn't know exactly what Wufei was thinking. "We're planning very carefully. But I swear if anything happens to you Duo and I will look out for him. As long as he needs us."

Wufei just nodded and grunted.

---

Duo stepped back and looked at Wufei. He checked carefully to see that the small transmitter was buried in the heavy weld of leg strap to cuff. The thin wire that was the antenna had been laid in a groove cut into the strap. They'd found that the wire couldn't be hidden in the chain. It was long enough this way. Duo was of the opinion that the transmitter was using the entire restraint system as an antenna. The camera was well hidden too. Attached to the back of the buckle of the waist strap it actually used one of the tang holes as an orifice. The lens was actually half the size of the hole.

Wufei stood patiently while Duo fussed and fiddled. He was well aware that all the fussing was an expression of worry on Duo's part. He absently rubbed at his stomach. It hurt worse than ever. He wished he could have some tea.

"You ok 'Fei? You don't look so good . . . when this is all over, I'll give you a nice tea ceremony. Just like I did before. Ok?"

Wufei smiled at Duo. "That would be nice. I have the tea set you gave me. Zechs really liked it when I had a ceremony for him. It was nice. We could all sit for it. I still remember it with great fondness."

Duo smiled gently at Wufei. "I never thanked you for all your kindness when Heero was gone. I nearly went nuts, you know. If it hadn't been for you, I'd have . . ."

Wufei put a finger against Duo's lips, thanking the gods that his hands were free for now. "Hush. You'd have made it. You know you wouldn't have done anything to make Heero's life _difficult_."

Duo sighed. "You're right. But thanks anyway."

Wufei stood still as Duo fastened the cuffs around his wrists. He waited as Duo stepped back and examined him. "Looks ok. I'll have Heero and Zechs check the feeds and especially the visuals. You might have to hold your hands in a specific way to keep from blocking the lens. We'll have to see about that."

"You seem very confident. Something is different. What is it? You've got a . . . secret."

Duo raised his eyebrow. "Yeah. Heero wants to keep it secret for a bit yet. I'll go along with him . . . for now."

Wufei eyed Duo. The grin on his face was contagious so Wufei smiled back. "It's a good one. I can tell. When will you . . . er . . . spill the bacon?"

Duo made a disgruntled face and covered his eyes with one hand. "Beans, Wu-Wu, beans. Spill the beans. As soon as we can sneak away."

Wufei snorted softly. "Well, I knew it was some sort of food. So we'll sneak off and you'll tell us what you've got up your sleeve. Swear."

Duo nodded solemnly. "I double Dutch swear. Turn around."

Wufei turned around and stood as Duo examined him from the back.

"How's it look?"

"Good, good. Just don't trip. You'll break your neck."

Wufei snorted, started to say something as he turned and tripped. His usual cat like grace was foiled by the chains at his feet and Duo caught him before he took a header into a nearby table. Duo refrained from saying anything.

---

Zechs calibrated all the equipment, fine-tuning it carefully. He checked the reception, the audio and visual channels and the backups. Then he tested them again.

Heero let him finish his work then called to him careful not to startle him.

"Zechs. How's it going? You done?"

Zechs looked up and frowned slightly. "Yes. Did you need something?"

Heero nodded curtly. "Come."

Zechs just got up and went with Heero. When he got that curt, it was important.

Heero led Zechs to their tent and just pointed. Wufei was leaning against Duo, obviously upset.

Duo just turned him over to Zechs with a slight sigh. Duo jerked his head at Heero telling him that he wanted to talk in private.

Heero went to Duo and put his arms around him. They all needed all the comfort they could get.

"Want to show them?"

Duo nodded against Heero's cheek.

"Was there any doubt that we would?"

"Not really. I just wanted to make sure."

Duo snorted softly in Heero's ear. He snickered softly then whispered, "You really want us cut off at the knees?"

Heero shook his head. "No. I'm sure they'll feel better. But we still need to keep it between just us."

Duo nodded. "Yeah. At lest as long as we can. Quatre knew we'd have to out the suits sooner or later. Wonder why now?"

Heero shrugged. "Rescue Relena and there will be more attention on that than the suits. Once the furor dies down the media will have inured the populace to the existence of the suits."

"And don't you just sound so . . ." Duo couldn't finish his snark as Heero kissed him silent.

Duo made a 'uummpf' sound and butted Heero gently.

Zechs and Wufei were both watching with interest. Wufei rattled his chains and said rather sullenly. "I'll thank you to take these off for now. And quit having secrets. It isn't fair."

Heero just removed the shackles and laid them aside. He knew that Wufei would have to wear them for several hours and walk around in them before he could move easily. It wasn't going to be pleasant for him but he had to do it. He had to be ready when the chance came, whatever it turned out to be. Heero remembered J's training and wondered how to help Wufei. He would think it out on the way to the barn.

Duo smiled at Wufei. "Humor me, O great dragon. I'll wibble."

Zechs looked blank but both Heero and Wufei groaned. Wufei clasped his hands in front of his chest in a begging posture. "O, please. Spare me the wibble lip. Come on . . . hint?"

"Nope. Just put on your running shoes and follow us."

Wufei got out his sneakers and put them on. Heero noticed that Zechs wasn't putting on anything fit to run in. He poked Duo.

"Hey. That means you too, blondie. Come on. You need to see this too. Might ease your mind a bit."

Zechs quickly changed his dress boots for combat boots, more appropriate for running. Duo smiled at him.

" 'S ok, ya know? We'll take 'em out. Beat you all to hell, didn't we? Don't sweat it. I'm not." Duo made a scoffing face. "Much"

Zechs had to smile at Duo. He knew that if it could be done they'd do it. "I know. I just . . . feel so helpless. I never sent someone else in to do a job I wouldn't do myself. I fought with honor as best I could. This is just so . . ."

"Wrong. Using civilians. Even prisoners. Isn't . . . cricket?" Heero raised an eyebrow at Zechs.

"It is the epitome of dishonor. Warriors should settle things amongst themselves. Come. I want my surprise." Wufei nearly stomped his foot

---

They trotted through the woods with Wufei snarking at everything. He was hot, it was too dusty, his boots didn't fit right, the sun was in his eyes. He just couldn't be satisfied. No one said anything. He had a right to be pissy. He was literally going to put his head in a lion's mouth.

When they got to the barn Duo insisted on having both Wufei and Zechs cover their eyes. They did so and Heero and Duo opened the barn doors.

"Ok, you can look now."

Wufei blinked once and gave himself away completely. "Ay-ya!," the rest of the Chinese was too rapid for anyone but another Chinese to understand, but the expression on his face was priceless. Zechs just stood and gulped, blinking in amazement.

"Holy hell. It's . . . it's. . . where the hell did you get a Gundam and who knows you have it?" Zechs started to say more but all he could really do was close his mouth before he made a fool of himself.

Duo pulled him into a hug followed by Heero then Wufei. "I know . . . it's a real shock. But they're not Gundams." Zechs snorted inelegantly. "Technically. If it's not made of gundanium, it's not a Gundam. These are made of some new stuff Quatre developed. He's threatened to call it Relenium." That made Zechs laugh and broke his tension.

"I want to see. Is it ok? I don't have to ask who's piloting what suit. But . . . please?"

Wufei just mounted Deathscythe and explored the cock pit. Duo watched as he poked and commented. Heero climbed up behind Zechs and pointed out things of interest.

They spent nearly two hours with the suits acquainting themselves with the differences between their old suits and these new models. Zechs was especially interested in Neo-Deathsythe-hell, while Wufei wanted Neo-WingZero in the air. They contented themselves with running systems checks and walking the suits out into the open and then back into the barn.

---

After they returned to the HQ, Wufei allowed Heero to put the transport chains back on him. Heero helped Wufei learn how to walk and function in the chains. Wufei listened to everything Heero had to say and worked diligently to master the skills.

By the time Heero was sure Wufei could handle himself it was very late. They'd been working out for nearly four hours. Wufei was sweaty and tired. Heero was tired and worried, as they all were.

"Wufei, I want you to get a good nights sleep. Zechs, make sure that he does. Duo, you and I will be escort tomorrow so we need a good nights sleep too."

But going to sleep took some doing. By the time they were all asleep it was past midnight. Heero couldn't let go of Duo, who snuggled close, the narrow cot didn't allow much room although neither man cared. They were comfortable enough. Zechs lay flat on his back hogging the whole bed but it didn't make much difference to Wufei as he was on his stomach on Zechs's chest. They all slept until exactly 6:45am when Heero's eyes popped open and he nudged Duo.

"Up."

" 'M up." Duo mumbled as he burrowed closer to Heero, rubbing his butt into Heero's groin.

"Not now. We have to get up."

"No, I don't. Don't wanna. Have to give up 'Fei if I do."

Zechs was of the same opinion but Wufei kissed him gently and crawled off him.

"We better go. The negotiator has been holding them off for the last day. They have to be getting impatient. And I want a decent breakfast before I go in. And a hot shower. Please? Come wash my hair?"

Zechs gave up. He would do anything for Wufei, especially now.

Duo grumbled his way out of the bed and followed Wufei and Zechs into the shower. Heero scouted around a little, realizing that they hadn't seen much of the locals for several hours. He was beginning to be angry when he heard someone talking in the mess tent.

"Just let those boys be. They're under a lot of strain and they don't need a bunch of local yokels messing with them. You want to help? Stay out of their way. They're literally sending that boy into hell. Anyone got anything to say?"

Heero walked in and said, "I do. I want to thank you all for your consideration. We're going to take care of the S's, eat breakfast and then send Wufei in. I'm sure he'll appreciate your good wishes. Just be quick about it. Ok? He doesn't need the strain of prolonged . . . um . . . fussing? Anything you have to say make it short. Thanks." Heero nodded curtly to the gathered men and left. No one said much, most of them leaving to go to their duties or eat.

Heero joined the others in the showers, taking quiet joy in washing Duo's hair for him. Wufei and Zechs traded the favor.

It didn't take long for them to finish washing and get ready to go to breakfast.

---

After a quiet breakfast during which even Duo was subdued they went back to the tent and Heero hooked Wufei up. Wufei managed to walk without tripping, due to Heero's teaching, and got into the jeep to make the drive to the gates of the prison.

Heero and Zechs helped Wufei into the passenger's side of the jeep. Duo settled himself in the driver's seat with Heero behind him. Zechs got in behind Wufei and wrapped his arms around him.

Duo started the motor and put the jeep in gear. He jumped slightly as Heero put one arm around him. He glanced over his shoulder at Heero who nodded. Wufei grunted softly. Duo stepped on the accelerator and moved out.

He had to drive through the exercise yard to get to where they took the road, if you could call it that, to the prison. They were all surprised to see everyone who wasn't on duty standing at attention in two neat lines on either side of their path. Duo pulled up, Wufei stiffened his spine and sat erect and proud. Zechs and Heero returned the salutes and they continued on their way.

The drive was short enough that they didn't have too much time to think about things.

When they reached the prison, the exchanges were all standing under armed guard ready to go.

Wufei stepped out of the jeep under Zechs's steadying hand. He settled himself and walked calmly to the head of the terrorist group. He stood looking at the man for a moment then at a hand motion, walked behind him to be taken into custody by two of the lieutenants. The last that the three pilots saw of him was his ramrod straight back as he was lead away.

---

To see the rope dart in action go here. 


	43. End Game

The Price 43

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Wufei followed one of his guards into the prison, followed by the other. He was led straight to an intake room, but the search was superficial at best. Wufei couldn't help his tiny sigh of relief. He hadn't been happy at the thought of a full body cavity search. Heero's description had been graphic and rather intimidating. And he didn't want them finding his transmitter.

"Come on, kid. Boss wanted us to do a complete body cavity search, but I'm not much on SA on a kid. First the Boss then we're going to the Dump."

Wufei wondered what the Dump was and what SA was. He thought about it as they headed for wherever they were going. He decided that SA had to be sexual assault. He thanked his ancestors that the men weren't perverts.

As Wufei walked, he realized that he was surrounded by very large men. Some had Oz tattoos. Others were just thugs. He shuddered once then suppressed the urge ruthlessly. He didn't have time to have a fit, and his aversion therapy was kicking in nicely. He shuffled along, doing his best to keep up with the tall men. Their longer legs made it difficult, especially as his stride was shorted by nearly a foot.

"Hey, keep up." The man grabbed Wufei by one arm and hauled him along.

"Ralph, man, take it easy. The boy's in leg irons. And he's shorter than the shortest of us by at least eight inches." Ralph gave Wufei a look then subsided, grumbling.

They made it to the warden'soffice without further incident, although Wufei did get a sharp poke for looking around too much. He kept his head down but got as good a look around as he could. The walls were unguarded. All the towers empty. The gates were relocked however.

When he entered the outer office, he was greeted by a man who rose from the secretary's desk he bowed slightly in recognition of his status then just stood waiting.

The man who was not Ralph dumped the confiscated contents of his pockets onto the desk top. "That's the lot of it. Not much he can't keep."

The secretary type nudged things around with one finger. Wufei's pockets had yielded, one folding knife, a pen, a small spiral notebook, his wallet, a handkerchief, and some small change. Wufei was given back all but the knife. Ralph shoved it all into one thigh pocket and nudged him toward the door to the inner office.

Not-Ralph knocked, opened the door and stepped in. Wufei followed him careful not to trip on the transition from the uncarpeted outer office to the carpeted inner one. He took one look at the Boss and sighed. He knew this man, the psycho was a convicted war criminal ... A real one.

"Hello, Isaiah."

"Chang Wufei. You know that our demands aren't being met." It wasn't a question.

Wufei shifted from one foot to the other. "Yes. This display of cooperativeness may have a good effect. Send out some demands and see what happens. Just make them something half way reasonable."

Isaiah nodded. He walked around the desk and checked Wufei's bonds by pulling on the belt and the chains. He wasn't rough, or gentle, just matter of fact.

"Made for you?"

Wufei nodded. "I'm too small for regular irons. They just fall off."

"Rules, no unnecessary talking. No ... well, I don't think I need to tell you not to touch Miss Peacecraft, but hands off. Don't cause any trouble. If you do, I'll have you punished. But enough of that. If you don't cause any trouble, you won't get hurt. We'll all be done with this and gone soon. Take him to the Dump."

Wufei relaxed, he'd expected much worse.

Then Ralph spoke up. "Boss, you ain't gonna soften him up any?"

Isaiah just shook his head. "There's no softening him up. I've seen what he can endure. None of us have that in us, and I won't allow a rape. Get him out of here. And keep your hands to yourselves." He turned to look at Wufei. "If anyone gets fresh, you have my permission to remove body parts, without repercussions."

Wufei remembered, Isaiah was a 'holy warrior' he considered himself to be chosen by god to bring unity and peace to the colonies. Under his rule. And he wasn't particular about how he got it, except for that one vice. And he didn't use torture just for the fun of it. He always had a goal in sight.

Not-Ralph ledWufei away, motioning to another man to come with him. They left Ralph arguing with Isaiah.

The Dump turned out to be an interior room, deep inside the lower levels of the prison. It was dismal and rather dank. Relena was sitting on one of the four cots there looking a little worse for wear and a bit tearful.

When Wufei stumbled in the door, having been given a rather rough shove by the door guard, she jumped to her feet and threw her arms around him. He refrained from snapping at her by main force of will.

"Chang Wufei, are you all right. Did they hurt you? And why are you chained? I don't like this.

Wufei grabbed the last rags of his patience with both hands. "Stop that. I'm fine. I'm not hurt. The transports are one of the stipulations to getting everyone else out. And I'm not really thrilled either."

Wufei sat down on another cot and sighed. At least he was still chained. He'd actually been afraid that they'd remove them, separating him from his lifeline. Heero had consulted with Winchester and they'd decided that the possibility was small but there. He was disgusted when Relena pounded on the door, yelling for the guard.

"Hey! You! Come in here and unchain him. You listening to me?"

Wufei struggled back to his feet and grabbed her.

"Damn stupid onna. Have you lost your mind?"

"But ... they should ... don't you want to be unchained?"

Wufei realized the futility of explaining to Relena, she wasn't stupid by any means but he was sure that this was beyond her comprehension.

"That's neither here nor there. I really don't what someone to come in here and take a belt to me. Or you. If you push them too far, we're both in trouble. They're not getting what they expected to and it's making them desperate. Now, sit down, shut up and let me work this out."

Relena bit at her lip for a moment then sighed. "Wufei ... May I call you Wufei?" Wufei just nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid that this has worn on my last nerve. I'm not acting rationally. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I'll do my best to help you."

Wufei settled back on the cot. The chains were wearing on him already. He'd hoped that the terrorists would free his hands and leave the rest. They'd left them all.

Just then, a man entered with two trays of food.

"Here. Eat. Got twenty minutes."

Relena picked up her fork immediately and started to eat. "You better eat. They mean it."

Wufei shrugged. "I'll pass. I can't feed myself. Unless you'll do it."

Relena blinked at him, fork between her lips. She pulled the fork frombetween her lips, chewed and swallowed. "I ... well, you can't, can you?"

Wufei gave her a disgusted look. "I can. You put food in my mouth and I chew and swallow. I'd really rather not go hungry ... unless you feel it's beneath your dignity."

Relena shook her head. "No, I just ... well ... I've never fed anyone before. I'm sorry to be so stupid but I'm out of my depth here."

Wufei shook his head. "I'll tell you what to do. Hurry and finish."

Relena did and managed to do a fair job of feeding Wufei. She got a little gravy on his chin but other than that she did quite well.

A different man came to get the tray.

After the tray was gone, Wufei went back to his cot. He lay back and got his feet onto the cot, chains rattling. Relena puttered in the background.

"Let me wash your face." Relena held a dripping wash rag in one hand and a bar of soap in the other. She looked determined and hesitant.

Wufei rolled his head on the thin pillow. "Very well. Take the cloth back to the sink and wring it out, I don't like it that wet."

Relena willingly did as she was told. Never let it be said that she hired anexpert and then didn't at least listen to them. She returned with the cloth and waited for Wufei to tell her what else to do.

"Sit on the side of the cot and lean over. You have to be able to see what you're doing."

Relena gave Wufei a puzzled look but did as she was told. Wufei took advantage of her position to fill her in on what was going on. She straightened up, went back to the sink and rinsed out the cloth. When she returned to Wufei, she wiped the soap off his face and hissed in his ear, "Are you crazy? They're going to use us as leverage to try to force the World Council to give them a colony. They're so unrealistic I can't believe it. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff they're asking for. Tons of money. Caviar. Champagne. Just bizarre."

Wufei realized that they were in, as Duo would say, 'shit up to our chin.'

"Well, that's what I'm here for. We're going to get you out of here without granting them any more concessions."

"How?"

Wufei rolled his head away from Relena's incessant wiping. "Not sure yet. Now, go put that way. And babble at me for a little."

So Relena put the wash rag on the edge of the sink and returned to sit on her bunk next to Wufei and babble at him. Wufei twitched incessantly, picking at his clothing and hair, flicking his fingers around. Relena just rambled. None of the men watching from the camera high on the wall understood that Wufei had just filled Relena in on everything that was going on.

He'd thought Duo was out of his mind when he'd taught the war sign to Relena. She'd found it amusing and spent the whole of one rainy day learning. Wufei smiled in remembrance of that visitation day. They'd all wound up at the 'country club' prison at the same time and spent the day together. Now he was glad of her persistence and Duo's patience.

When he was finished, he felt like he was fifty years old. He was tired and it was only the middle of the morning. He just hoped that the terrorists had kept their end of the bargain. He'd seen the men standing around but he hadn't actually seen them set free.

"Do you think they really let all those people go?"

Relena patted him on the thigh. "Yes. They were complaining about how hard it was to keep them all under control. They locked the place down but they still had to feed everyone. So ... yes, I'm sure they let them go. Their only other option was to kill them and they knew that that wouldn't endear them to anyone. So ... Your sacrifice wasn't in vain."

"Good. Now ... if you don't mind, I'm going to try to meditate for a while."

Relena just shook her head. "That's ok. They'll be bringing me my paper soon. And a new book. I'll be quiet and read."

"Thank you"

Wufei set himself to meditate while Relena sat by the door to wait for her paper.

Zechs sat at the listening station and waited for Wufei to go into his meditation. While he was meditating, he was also going to send in his first report. It was too dangerous for him to just talk, someone might figure out what they were up to. He knew a very old form of radio code called Morris. The tiny transmitter in his leg irons had a 'key' imbedded in it. Zechs was determined not to miss a letter. They were going to record it but Zechs was proficient in Morris code too and he was going to transcribe it immediately.

The 'rescued' prisoners had all been debriefed and sent to another facility, most of the regular communications crew were just standing around staring in awe, but of course one of them had to be a geek of amazing stupidity. The beeping of the communicator was just so odd.

"Here. Let me adjust this. It'll eliminate that beeping and bring in the signal." The man reached over Zechs's shoulder. Even Heero wasn't fast enough to save him. The crack of his arm breaking was loud enough to be heard in the street.

Zechs didn't even miss a letter. He finished his transcription and turned. "If anyone touches that equipment, I'll break both their arms and all ten fingers. Do you understand me?" The look on Zechs's face would have frozen anyone in their tracks. Everyone nodded, someone helped the idiot out and things went back to what passed for normal.

Sheriff Haskins reaction to Zechs breaking his comm officer's arm was to tell his deputy to have the man's desk cleaned out.

Zechs shared his information with the others. Heero knew Isaiah too and just sighed.

"See what Winchester thinks we can send them. If we send in something, Isaiah will get the idea that he has a chance. Put him off his guard. If Wufei can figure out where they are in relation to the main gate, we have a chance. If not. .. I don't know what we'll do."

Duo showed his distress by yanking on his braid until Heero caught his hand and just held it.

"He has to find some way to see the rest of the outer wall. I don't think there are any guards but we have to be sure. The cameras on the outer wall are monitored. We know that." Heero nodded.

Zechs chewed on the end of his braid for a moment then continued. "We have to find some way to get close without attracting their attention. Wufei says that the Dump is in the lower levels, maybe even under ground. That's not good at all. They need to be above ground and preferably somewhere on the second or third floor with big windows. That puts them in the infirmary, library or warden's office. How they're going to convince the Rock gang to do that is beyond me. Especially if Isaiah is as crazy as I think he is."

Heero rubbed the back of his neck. "Last I knew, he was on some kind of religious kick, jihad or something like it. He wants to return the colonies to pre-Alliance economic status and keep the political quid pro quo. Man's an idiot with a mission." Heero poked Duo in the side. "Do not say it."

Duo gave Heero his best wide-eyed innocent look. "Who me? Wouldn't dream of it. You were never unreasonable, just unwavering. If I had the data, you were easy to convince. This guy sounds like he's got a mission from god. Not the sort of person you can talk out of much of anything. I still don't understand some of his demands. Don't make sense. And that scares me."

Zechs rubbed his forehead. "I think some of the odd ones were just to placate the mob of hangers on and peripherals, the moneyand a few other things are for real. Not a one of their demands are reasonable, realistic nor doable. We might manage some champagne and caviar. We'll just have to see what Winchester and his crew come up with."

After some general grumbling, they all went their separate ways. Zechs back to the listening post and Heero and Duo to the N-Gundams to make sure that they were familiar with the controls and that the mecha were battle ready.

Wufei clutched at his stomach and bit back a moan. Relena couldn't help but notice that Wufei was in pain.

"Chang? What's wrong?" Relena leaned over him and kept her voice down.

"Indigestion. It's getting worse. The stress I suppose."

Relena, more acquainted with stomach problems than she liked, many of the men she dealt with had ulcers, snarled. "Indigestion my ass. Do you have anything?"

Wufei shook his head. "No. I didn't think it was wise to bring any powders. Some idiot might try to snort it."

"Well, if they did, they'd get what they deserved. I'll bang on the door and see if they won't bring something."

Wufei caught Relena's wrist to keep her still. "No. Don't. They'll only take it as a sign of weakness. We can't afford it. We have to put up a strong front. I'll be ok in a few minutes."

"What about milk? It's supposed to help."

Wufei sighed. "Lactose intolerant. I have stuff I take before Maxwell hauls us off to the ice cream parlor. But I don't have any of that either."

Relena bit at her lip. "Well, boogers." Wufei couldn't help his snicker. "Stop that. I'm trying to think. We have to get you out of here sooner than I expected. Fiddle-dee-dee."

Wufei decided that his best bet was to try to sleep a little. One of these attacks left him feeling lethargic. He'd try to figure out a way to see more of the prison when he woke up.

Relena wasn't stupid, no one in her position could be. Her naturally optimistic outlook made her seem somewhat wide-eyed and young, however, like Quatre, she could be completely ruthless when she needed to be. In this instance she knew that Wufei was suffering from more than indigestion and started making some plans accordingly, some of them very long term.

She watched over Wufei as she did. The knock on the door followed by one of the trustees opening it and handing her the paper woke Wufei who raised his head then let it drop back down when he recognized the man as Not-Ralph. He realized that he couldn't keep referring to the man by that name.

"Who is that?"

Relena replied absently as she scanned the social page. "Him? ... um ... his name is Kurt. He's fairly nice. I don't think he's really into this mess. His brother is one of the higher ups. Why?"

Wufei settled more comfortably in the cot. "He was nice to me. I'd like to put in a good word for him."

"That's nice ... would you like the sports page?"

Wufei didn't like sports, couldn't hold the paper if he did and said so, then he had to apologize for snapping at Relena. She just shrugged and said, "Well, you're under a lot of strain. Don't worry. Would you like me to read to you? I could read the newest article about this. It's rather interesting."

Wufei said he'd like that and drowsed through Relena's reading, she had a remarkably soothing voice when she wasn't chasing Heero. Wufei realized that Relena had grown up while he wasn't watching, he couldn't remember the last time she'd made a pest of herself. In fact, the last few times he'd had much to do with her, she'd been visiting them at Zechs's house and been an excellent conversationalist.

When Relena finished reading the article Wufei grumbled, "I don't know who's been feeding them that shit. It's not anything like what they're saying. It's just our duty. To fight so that others don't have to is the way of a true warrior. Not the fighting, the fact that our sacrifice make's the lives of so many others safe, that's the true 'thrill' of victory as Duo would say. Now, I'd like to ask you some questions, but we need to figure out how to do that without alerting the Rock gang. Do you have any ideas?"

Relena shrugged. "Several, depending on how you feel about touching."

Wufei sighed softly, "Remember that I was married. Not for very long and we were young, but I've no objections to touching you in a friendly way."

Relena just stretched, yawned and then shivered. "I'm cold, and drowzy. Would you mind if I just lay beside you. I ... I really would like to just cuddle. They don't ... touch me. For which I'm grateful but I feel like I haven't had a hug in forever. Hugs are very important you know. So ..."

Wufei realized that, because they'd kept their voices down and their backs to the camera, the observers wouldn't realize exactly what they'd been saying. Relena's louder remarks explained why she was snuggling with him and that would allow them to talk without fear of compromising their plans.

He allowed Relena to settle against him, curling around her. His bound hands made it impossible for him to actually hug her but it was good enough. They talked softly for over an hour. Wufei knew that his transmitter was sensitive enough to pick up everything. He just hoped Relena knew enough to get them out of this quickly, his stomach was much worse and he was now sure that it was way more than indigestion.

Zechs listened in on everything they said and took notes. He called Heero and Duo and shared everything he'd gotten. Heero bit at his lip. "Isaiah is a recruiter. He'll try to talk Wufei into joining them. Maybe we'll be able to get more intel then. I just hope Wufei doesn't lose his temper. If he starts one of his rants, we're done for. Or he'll get hell kicked out of himself. Depending on what hesays."

Duo sighed. "And you were worried about me. Wuffers is all for justice and whatnot, and ain't afraid ta say so. Loudly, long and often. We got to figure a way to calm him down."

Heero shrugged. "Zechs can morse code him. That 'tingler' in the cuff isn't there for the fun of it." Heero turned to Zechs. "Make sure he's not somewhere where they'll notice. But tell him not to lose his temper."

Zechs nodded. "I'll see what I can do right now. They seem to be laying down on the same cot. Relena won't give us away and maybe she can provide some cover of some kind."

Zechs headed for the com tent while Heero and Duo started planning.

When he got to the tent Zechs let out a nearly soundless snarl. Heero's nemesis was there, trying to get into the tent. Mackie was dancing around in front of one of the Spec Ops people, demanding to be let into the tent. The SO was just shaking her head with a rather mean expression on her face.

Zechs walked up behind Mackie and announced in a fierce tone, "If you've even looked at that radio, I'll gut you, then turn the remains over to Maxwell." he looked at the SO. "Did he actually get in the tent?"

She snapped to attention and said, "Sir, yes sir! He did, sir. I was requested to remove him, sir. One incident was enough, sir."

Zechs stood completely still for one moment, then snarled, "Hold him here. If he's misaligned the frequencies, I'll tear him apart."

Zechs stormed into the tent and headed for the radio. Two deputies, who'd been more or less guarding the setup got out of his way. He checked the radio and sighed with relief. Mackie hadn't done more than turn off the emergency power supply which wasn't a big deal as the power hadn't failed. He settled down to send his message then he was going to see to Mackie.

Wufei made a quick 'blip-blip' reply to show that he'd gotten the message. Zechs relaxed slightly, there had been a slight chance that Mackie had managed to foul up the radio.

Relena wriggled her butt right in Wufei's groin. "Onna, stop that. What do you think you're doing?"

"Putting on a show so that they won't wonder why I'm going to my own bed." Relena whispered back. Wufei shoved her away gently and she got up to go to her cot. Wufei realized that he missed her warmth. He hadn't known he was a cuddler until Zechs remarked on it one morning.

Wufei settled wondering what time it was. He was going to suggest to the person that delivered supper that he might be amenable to persuasion. He hated looking like a turncoat but 'needs must' as his grandmother said.

The door opened just then, answering his internal question. Their supper was here.

"Thank you, my good man. Oh, could you ask if someone could at lest remove the chains from Mister Chang's wrists. I'm feeding him and it's a bit ... awkward. I'm not good at it and Mister Chang doesn't deserve to have to deal with this along with everything else."

Relena's bright eyed look didn't impress Kurt at all. "I'm sure I can ask. I'm also sure the answer will be no. He's too dangerous to be free. And, Mr. Chang, I'll be taking you to talk to the boss after you're done eating. Be ready."

Wufei blinked, Kurt didn't look happy and that wasn't good. He wondered how badly he was going to dislike his interview.

Relena fed him his supper, careful this time not to drip gravy all over. He was grateful for her help and said so. She was indignant on his behalf, declaring that they could at least show him some respect. He smiled grimly and replied that perhaps they were.

Isaiah let Wufei get settled in a fairly comfortable chair then started lecturing him. He listened with patience for a while then he tried to explain to Isaiah that all he was doing was stirringup old wounds. He wasn't listening. He explained that he was the one talking and Wufei would do well to listen. Wufei bowed slightly and settled back to ignore the man.

The slap across the face was as unpleasant as it was unexpected. Wufei glowered at Isaiah and refrained from comment. Instead he went back to ignoring him. Isaiah lectured for a while more then demanded, "You're not even listening to me. Why do you make me waste my breath?"

"If you're not interested in a meaningful dialogue, you are just wasting your breath. And my time. If you want to listen to what I have to say, I'll be glad to share, otherwise we're in a stand off. Now ... which is it to be."

Isaiah let his displeasure be known, in no uncertain terms. "That's it. Ralph, take him out and 'explain' to him that it's much better not to piss me off."

Ralph leered at Wufei and motioned to two men to bring Wufei. They grabbed him and he had to fight his natural instincts to fight. This was not the time to reveal that he could be free at need. He was too far away from Relena.

Zechs heard it all and nearly went mad. He could hear the blows, the grunts of pain, and the snickers of the men. He listened and remembered. He'd get even if it was the last thing he ever did. Thankfully, they did no more than beat Wufei.

Heero and Duo didn't know any thing about what was going on. They had left to go to the N-Gundams to check on them.

Heero mounted N-Wing and spent a while just adjusting his chair. The new chairs were much more comfortable than the old ones. They even lay out flat, sort of. If they were in space the chair could be made into a bed of sorts. There was also a lot more floor room, not a great deal more but more.

He turned his head as Duo tumbled into his cockpit, laughing. "Hey, 'Ro! Nice. I got a look last time but didn't have time to do more than peek. Very nice! Wanna break it in?"

Heero blinked for a second then got the idea. He leered at Duo and made a grab for him. Duo dodged him and they played ring-around-rosey around the pilots chair. Then Duo dodged the wrong way, right into heero's arms. Not that either one of them minded much. Duo snickered. "Got lube?" Heero produced a small tube from a pocket and laughed as Duo did the same.

"So what are we going to do for a bed? Or at least somewhere to get flat. Because I got to tell ya. I'm not too thrilled with locking my knees and hopin' the hell I don't fall over."

"Just watch." Heero opened a small locker and pulled out a sleeping bag which he put on the floor. "And there's wipes and TP, a bunch of camping gear, including a tent. You got the same, if you looked."

Duo settled on the bag. "Yeah, I was just going to try to lure you over, but this is just as good. Q thinks of everything. I've even got a water purifier."

Heero grunted, settled on the bag next to Duo and stretched out. "This is good. It's a bit tight for two, but plenty of room for one. Wouldn't want to camp out but not bad in an emergency. Scoot over a bit."

Duo obligingly scooted and Heero smirked at him, growled and pounced. Duo let out a very unmanly squawk when he blew a raspberry against his neck.

They laughed and wrestled around, rolling back and forth. Heero bumped his hip on the chair pedestle. Duo knocked his elbow on something. Neither of them minded a bit.

Heero methodically stripped Duo out of his clothing. He pulled off their boots and set them in an empty locker. Then he dragged Duo's t-shirt off over his head. He folded it then took off his own, folded that and set them aside. Duo watched with some amusement. Heero always got like this before a mission and trying to hurry him or change his methodical way only got them both annoyed. So he just let Heero have his way.

After placing the folded t-shirts in the pilots seat Heero returned to Duo who just opened his arms and smiled. Heero settled between Duo's open legs and started to kiss him. Duo wrapped his arms around Heero and replied to his kisses with delight. They hadn't had time for this in a while and he was looking forward to more than a quick cuddle.

Heero got up to his knees and wrestled his pants down to the deck plates, he sat back and managed to get them down to his ankles. Duo reached out and pulled the hems off his feet and then allowed Heero to remove them the rest of the way. After Heero folded them he grabbed Duo's pants hems and dragged them down and off. He rose to his knees again and placed the folded pants on top of the t-shirts. This left them both in nothing but shorts.

Duo had to snicker, Heero was wearing dark blue silk boxers. "What happened to the tidy-whities?"

Heero smirked and dragged Duo to him by one ankle. "I like silk better." he shrugged, "besides, it's all I have clean." He licked Duo's foot.

"Hey! And ick! That can't be sanitary." Heero nibbled at one of Duo's toes. "Oh! And ... ohmugod. That feels so good. And ... yeah, ..."

Heero had never figured out how someone who'd gone barefoot until they were eight or so could have such sensitive feet. And how that someone could walk across gravel without trouble. He decided to table that line of thought for later, much later.

Duo wriggled and squeaked, moaned and begged. He knew that Heero wasn't going to rush it much, but he was ready now. "Heero, you're killin' me here. Do somethin' besides suck my toes. I'm gonna have a ..."

Heero gave Duo's toe a nip making him yelp then pulled his shorts down and off in one smooth move. Duo grabbed for Heero's shorts and tumbled them both into one of the side walls. They'd forgotten how small the space was. Duo rubbed the sore spot on the back of Heero's head apologizing.

"Don't worry about it. You know I've had worse for less. It would be nice if we had more room."

Heero tugged Duo half into his lap. It was all they could manage in the constricted space. "Well, we'll just have to make do. Where else could we go? Your cockpit ... stop that! ..." Heero poked Duo who just snickered. "Can't ... cock pit? Please!" Heero laughed too. "Ok, I get it, but either pilots space ... laugh at that you evil pill." Duo whooped until Heero kissed him hard to shut him up.

"Sorry, 'Ro. I know I'm actin' silly, but why not? And ... you're right. We're not going to get anywhere. The floor space just isn't there." Duo bit at his lip for a moment. Then he grinned at Heero. "I've got an idea. Listen ... here's what we'll do. And no one will see. We're at the ass end of no where."

When Duo was through explaining his idea to Heero, all Heero could do was laugh. "That'll work. We have two sleeping bags and that'll make it soft enough."

They didn't bother to get dressed, no one could see them up there. Besides Heero liked to see Duo naked. He dumped his shorts on the pile of clothing and sat right on top of them. He maneuvered N-Wing shoulder to shoulder with N-Deathscythe and raised the right arm. Duo raised the left arm of N-Deathscythe and they set the hands together palms up. The space they created was partially hidden by the curving fingers and the thumbs also hide the area. It wasn't large, however, the two palms together were plenty large enough to lay comfortably side by side. Great for cuddling, or sex.

Heero slid out of the cockpit, unashamedly nude, and scrambled into the hand of his mecha. He spread out his sleeping bag again and turned to look for his mate.

Duo was standing on the shoulder of N-Deathscythe, hair loose and flowing in the light breeze.

Heero called softly, "Come down, love." and Duo turned to him with a brilliant smile.

"Coming. In more ways than one, I hope."

Duo eased into the palm of 'Scythe and shook out the sleeping bag he'd been holding under one arm.

They settled back down in the joined palms and curled into each other, Heero behind Duo.

Duo scooted back and nestled his butt into Heero's groin. Heero kissed the back of his neck, stroking his hair out of the way.

"You're going to regret this. Your hair will be a rat's nest."

"Don't care. You can brush it out later. Touch me."

Heero slid one hand under Duo and shifted him until he could reach his target. "Like this? ... or this?"

Duo whimpered at the sensation of Heero's rough hand on him. It felt so good. Heero was a gentle and considerate lover, Duo enjoyed his touch. Heero continued to stroke Duo until Duo was panting and demanding that Heero do something.

Heero rolled Duo until he was on his side. "This will be cold. I never thought to stick it under me. Sorry." Duo snarled wordlessly and pushed back onto Heero's hand. Heero eased Duo gently and spent an enjoyable few minutes readying him. Duo moaned and panted, Heero repliedwith some moans of his own.

"Ready? I don't want to hurt you."

Duo sighed. "Ready, willing and horny as hell. Come on."

Duo shifted a little and pulled his left leg to his chest. Since he was on his right side this left him open and receptive. Heero slipped into him easily.

Their love making was slow and languid. Heero moved slowly, just flexing his hips. Duo helped by doing the same. When they came, their orgasms were easy, barely more than a stiffening of bodiesat rest.

Duo sighed and stretched. "Oh, that was soooo goooood. Man, I really needed that. You like?"

Heero grumbled softly. "Mmmmmmm, like. Love you."

"Love you back. Twice."

Heero chuckled making Duo snort.

"We ought to feel guilty, you know. Wufei being in there and all."

"Why? Neither one of us turned off the radio."

Clean up was accomplished easily. Duo used some hand wipes on them both. Heero had to snicker. "Bet Q never thought ... well, on second thought, I bet he did." Heero stood up and stretched languidly.

"Gotta piss. 'Scuse me." Heero stood on the thumb of N-Wing, checked the prevailing winds and 'delivered his payload'. Duo just laughed.

Wufei groaned softly. That last kick to the stomach had done something bad. He wasn't exactly sure what but it made him curl around himself in agony.

The two thugs were both worried, they'd been told to soften him up not kill him. Wufei was sure he looked half dead and did everything he could to enhance the appearance. Isaiah fell for it.

"What the hell did you do to him? I wanted him impressed with our dedication, not half unconscious. Get a medic."

Ralph looked sulky. "We ain't got none. Let them all go. So?"

Wufei whimpered softly then said, "Relena, get Relena. She'll know what to do."

Ralph started to argue but Isaiah shut him up with a glance. Isaiah sent Kurt for Relena. Wufei just hoped that she could fake it well enough to get by.

He lay on the floor until someone thought to move him to a couch, then he lay there until Relena walked in.

"What is going on? I thought you people had better sense than this. Really! How could you? He's bound and helpless. Beating him isn't going to make him any more amenable to your demands than he was before. In fact, much less. And I hate to think what will happen when Heero Yuy finds out that you've half killed him." Wufei flinched, Relena still had a voice that could shatter glass when she wanted. He wondered what she thought she was doing then realized that she was speaking for the transmitter. His next thought was that Zechs had heard it all.

The sharp tap of Relena's heels on the floor alerted him to her close presence.

Relena put one hand on Wufei's forehead and clicked her tongue.

"We'll have to take him somewhere better than this. The infirmary will be perfect. The large western windows will give me enough light to see what the devil you've done to him. And don't even think of telling me to use the stairs. He's not going to be able to climb a flight of stairs. Turn on the elevator ... and have that buffalo out side carry him. Now!"

Someone started to object but Isaiah snarled, "Silence! I know we've got trouble on our hands now. I said soften him up not kill him. What's wrong with him? Lady Relena?"

Relena turned on Isaiah with a snarl. "I've been cooperative. I've done my level best. But this is beyond the pale. Get him to the infirmary. I don't like his color at all, and he's sweaty."

Wufei realized that Relena had figured out the perfect way to tell Zechs where they were without causing any suspicions. He resigned himself to being carried like a child. Not that that was much of a problem, because the man who carried him was easily six and a half feet tall.

He rested in the man's arms as he was carried to the infirmary. He hurt, his stomach was tender and sore and he tasted blood in his mouth. He hadn't bitten either his tongue or his lip.

Zechs held his temper in control by main force of will and a broken desk. He sent an alert to the com systems of both N-Gundams and got an answer from Heero. Heero told Zechs that Duo was with him and to get to the point, now. Zechs just filled them in, in a wooden voice, finishing, "He'llbe in the infirmary with Relena in attendance. He'll be ready for whatever we decide to do. So what do we do?"

Heero didn't bother to do more than say, "We got it. Stay on the com, we'll be needing you. Tell Wufei we're coming in. To be ready to react to anything. I'll try to ride in low and snatch up Relena, Duo will get Wufei. He'll know what to do ..." Heero turned to Duo. "We're on. Suit up."

Heero opened a locker in his cockpit and pulled out a skin suit. He had to smile. The older models had been referred to as space suits but these suits were worn by almost any suit operator whether they were in space or not.

He eased it on pleased with the fit. It was padded in all the places the harnesscould bruise. Tight enough not to get caught in machinery and with an internal system that could beactivated to put pressure on wounds.

Duo hollered from N-Deathscythe, "Hey, Heeeerrrooo!" Heero winced at the falseto, so like Relena at her worst. "Do you like your suit? Mine's just peachy."

Heero groaned at the sight of Duo in the skin tight suit. His was black and silver. Heero's was red with blue flash on the ribs. Neither realized that they made the perfect couple.

"Looks good ... what first?"

Duo considered their options. "Well, we know where they are. Wufei will know enough to keep away from the windows as much as possible. And ... frankly, I think all we really have to do is bust in, grab them both and head out again. But you know how that works."

Heero made a face. "Yeah, Murphy is a real bastard. So, we'll just have to work it out as we go along. Basic plan, to summarize, fight our way in, grab Wufei and Relena, fight our way out. So far so good."

Duo nodded, trust Heero to boil a mission down to bare bones. The number of things that could go wrong reached three figures. Duo just hoped the convicts didn't have very many weapons.

"Weapons? What do you think they might have?"

Heero considered that for a moment. "Hand guns, long arms; all confiscated from the guards or the internal armory. Not much else. Except maybe a few kitchen bombs. And ... but I don't think they have the skills to make gasses from what they can find in the prison. So we just watch out for small caliber long arms and maybe a shot gun or two. Hand guns aren't going to be a problem. Anything I've missed?"

Duo tugged on his braid for a second. "Nope. I'll send Zechs a mission report. We'll be ready in no time. We ought to surveythe area before we move. I'll send up a flitter."

The small surveillanceplane was dulylaunchedand Duo monitored the feed, retransmitting it to Zechs for recording.


	44. Check and Mate

The Price 44

Betaed by Skippyscatt

Authors note: I have started using a period for the breaks as FF eats almost anything else. So if you see a random period, you're not nuts.

Relena worried. Wufei was so still that she actually put one hand on him to check that he was still breathing.

"I'm fine. Sorry if I seem rude, but they expect a certain attitude from me and I'm trying to give it to them. Zechs has heard every word we said and I think Duo and Heero will be here soon. At least I hope so. I really don't feel well."

Relena sighed softly. "I'm so sorry to have gotten everyone into this mess. If I'd only listened to my advisors. They said this was too dangerous ... can I get you anything?"

Wufei shifted uncomfortably. "I don't think so. I had some real pains about two weeks ago, but the medicine seemed to help. Now, that kick seems to have ... broken something loose or ... punctured something. I'm not sure. The pain is ... manageable but I really don't want to have to exert myself if I can get out of it."

Relena bit at her lip. "I'm not sure ... I ... I'm not a medical professional but some of the people I come in contact with..." Relena trailed off.

"Tell me." Wufei shifted again, his stomach was really hurting now.

"Ulcers. It sounds like ulcers to me. And if ... do you taste fresh blood? Like a cut in your mouth? Or ... um."

Wufei stiffened. "No, it tastes sour. Like bile or acid."

Relena shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Ok. No more silly girl act. I've put them off by acting like a feather head. This is bad. Very bad. If that ulcer perforates, you're in really big trouble."

"I know. We have to get this over with. Go stand in the window."

"What good will that do? Not that I mind." Relena went to stand in one of the big windows.

"If either Duo or Heero doesn't have some sort of surveillance air craft buzzing this place, I'm an Auntie. It'll hopefully lock in on your heat signature. They'll know exactly where we are."

Relena nodded. "I see. Is there anything that I can do to make sure that they see me?"

Wufei thought for a moment then said, "Take down your hair. Brush it or something."

Relena obediently pulled the band off her ponytail and started running her fingers through it, explaining that she wasn't allowed a hair brush since she'd tried to use it to jimmy a window. Wufei hurt himself trying not to laugh.

Zechs got Duo on his radio and asked for an ETA. Duo bit at his lip for a moment then asked Zechs if he thought it was a good idea to reveal the N-Gundams yet. Zechs replied that it was time. Heero seconded the opinion so they walked the machines to the HQ.

This caused a near riot as every deputy, his brother and their dog wanted to get close. Heero finally had to use his external speakers to get them to stand away until they powered down, set the gyros and made sure the machines were stable.

When the shut down process was finished, the N-Gundams were stable on their feet and hidden from casual notice from the prison. The Neo's, as Duo had finally started calling them, remarking that saying 'N-Gundam' was cumbersome at best, were just tall enough that they topped the trees by a few feet. This made it possible to see them from the tallest tower of the prison. Luckily, it was unoccupied.

Heero dropped to the ground and waited the second it took Duo to join him. They went in search of Zechs.

Zechs was in the com waiting for them.

"I don't know exactly what is wrong with Wufei but it's something very bad. He's in pain. And it has to be bad as he's admitted it to Relena. We have to get them out before they take them back to the basement. They're in the infirmary right now. How long they'll stay, I don't know."

Heero took the blue print Zechs handed him and they unrolled it on the table. Duo snorted, he wasn't used to having someone roll all the prints back up and put them away. This was nice, he'd have enjoyed it except that Wufei was in real trouble and his only internal backup was Relena Peacefuckingpacificstcraft. He only realized that he'd said that out loud when Zechs gave him an amused look and remarked. 'I'm a Peacecraft too, you know.'

"I thought you changed it to Merquise."

Zechs shrugged. "I did, but that doesn't change much except some print."

Heero, meanwhile, spread the blueprint out and started trying to figure out how to get into the place without giving the Rock Gang time to kill Wufei and Relena. It didn't take him long.

"We have flight capabilities, but it's not a good idea to try that. The trees are too close to the walls. We wouldn't be able to land quickly enough. I think a simple walk in is the best."

Duo looked at the plans and nodded. "Yeah, walk right over the wall opposite the infirmary, grab up the kids and head out. All we have to do ... some sort of diversion would be nice ... that would attract attention away from what we're doing and maybe take some of the heat off. I could blow something up ... or something."

Zechs bit at his lip. He wanted to pilot one of the Neos so badly he could taste it, but they were made for Heero and Duo. He couldn't even sit in Duo's chair, Heero's was better but the controls were in all the wrong places. He shrugged, "I'll be happy to provide something. All I have to do is ... hummmm." His gaze went blank as he thought.

Duo smirked at Heero and gave him a silent thumbs up. He'd fix Zechs up with some 'attention getters'.

Heero thought for a few moments. "We better decide who's going to carry who. I don't want to put both Relena and Wufei on the same Neo. I'll ..."

Duo shook his head. "We take who we take. Don't get fixated on who you're going to carry, just grab the first person in the window and let me take the next. You head straight for the hospital if you get Wufei. Right?" He cupped Heero's face in his hands. "Right?"

Heero nodded grudgingly. "All right. If I get Relena, I'll bring her here. We've got a field hospital set up but it'll only hold one person. If you get her, same thing. Wufei, we fly straight to the hospital. They'll need tests and such. Zechs can meet Relena here and do the public announcement. Then come to the hospital Ok?" Heero pinned Zechs with a hard stare.

Zechs grumbled a bit but knew his duty. "Ok. As long as you keep me posted every ten minutes. Got that? If I don't hear from you, I'll be down your neck like a rash."

Duo nodded once. "Got it. I'll be sure to. Heero, you better too, 'cause I'm not throwin' my tender person between you and him. All right?"

Heero smiled and nodded. "I understand. I think about how I'd feel if it was you, and all I want to do is ... kill someone."

Duo grinned. "That's my man."

Zechs gave them a small, sad smile. "I have a really bad feeling. Be careful."

Heero nodded. "Yes, Duo's right. This mission is cursed. We'll be careful. You do the same."

They each headed in a different direction. Zechs back to the radio to try to tell Wufei what was going on. Heero to speak with the sheriff and Duo to make an attention getter.

Heero stood in front of the sheriff's desk and saluted him. "Sheriff Haskins, I'd like a moment, if you don't mind."

The sheriff looked up wearily from a pile of papers that he obviously had been working on for quite some time, there was a pile of equal size in the out tray. "Sure thing, son. I'm not too thrilled with all this paperwork. I swear, next election, I'm goin' fishin'."

Heero smiled at the man. "I don't blame you. This has got to be a real mess for you. Um ... I need to know how much mess we can make. Particularly, how much damage can we do to the prison?"

"Well, I don't particularly care if you knock the whole thing down. It's outdated and the state has been promising us a new one for ... probably six or seven years. There's no prisoners in there that can escape. So have a ball."

Heero smirked gently. "Thanks, Levi. That's a relief. It's a lot easier to take care of people if you don't have to take care of property. We're going in soon. Wufei is in some sort of trouble. He's ill. Zechs is about to go tear down the wall bare handed. Duo thinks dusk is the best time. We're working on killing the electric. Zechs is in charge of that. Keep the med unit on stand by, just in case. Any questions?"

Levi looked at Heero for a moment. "Yeah. How the hell did you ... wind up ... um. Shit!"

Heero shrugged. "I was taken in, or stolen from my parents, when I was very young, by an assassin named Oden Lowe. After he died, I drifted around for a few months on my own. Then J got his hands on me. I was trained with the most stringent methods available to be a perfect soldier. I've learned to turn it on and off now. I'm sorry to be such a freak, but this mission is too important to mess up. We're going in hot and heavy and getting Relena and Wufei out. Damn the consequences. If those idiots want to start a fight, we're finishing it. Spectacularly. Got any complaints?"

Heero turned his best glare on Levi, who just held up a hand. "No. Not a one. Just take care of that boy. He's ... too tender for this sort of thing, no matter what he says. And take care of Duo and Zechs too. I don't need to tell you I'm gonna be highly ticked if I have to break out the black tape."

Heero raised one eyebrow. "Don't worry. I don't intend to get hurt, Duo would kill me. And Zechs will cut off things if Wufei isn't in hospital a-sap. So ... I'm going to go check on Duo. He's fixing up some attention getters. He gets carried away sometimes."

Heero stood up and turned to go. He turned back and said softly. "Thanks, sir. For things you did that you'll never know how much I appreciate."

The sheriff smiled and waved his hand in a shooing motion. "Go. Do your thing. And you're welcome. Scat!"

Heero left to see if Duo was usingdiscretion in explosives or planning on blowing up half the state.

Duo had gone to the armory and was happily making up flash-bangs, small bombs which produced a large flash of extremely bright light, massive amounts of smoke and a loud noise. He was also making shape charges to bring down part of the wall. They couldn't get to the main power plant in time for the operation or he'd try to shut down the power to the entire complex, as it was he was looking at shutting down the main building power.

Heero peeked in on him and smiled, Duo did like blowing things up. Too bad Zechs was going to do that part of the operation.

"How's it going, love?"

Duo turned to grin at Heero. "Zechs is going to love this. I've got him some nifty stuff." Heero mouthed 'nifty?' then just paid attention to Duo.

"See. This charge will penetrate the wall, attract all kinds of attention. Then all Zechs has to do is toss some of these flash-bangs around. That should confuse the con's enough that he can get to the wire from the power station to the main building."

Heero blinked. "Isn't that underground?"

Duo shrugged. "Yeah, but it's only under by about 16"." He showed Heero another shape charge. "This'll penetrate to about 22", just in case the cable is deeper than expected. And it's easy to find. It runs right along the edge of a sidewalk. Zechs will have to be able to find it in the dusk, smoke and confusion. Do you think he can?"

Heero nodded. "He's got a level head on his shoulders, despite past breakdowns. He'll manage easily."

Duo nodded his relief. "Good. I'll make up a nice batch of whizzers too."

Heero gave him a blank look. "Whizzers? What's that?"

Duo turned a manic grin on Heero. "You remember those screaming rockets I used in that raid on Intebi? That's a whizzer. It's just a small rocket with a disk siren on it. Just noise, but it'll add to the confusion."

Heero snickered. "I remember those. The Ozzies wasted lots of ammo trying to shoot them down. By the time they realized that they were just noise, they'd wasted half their ammo on them. Are they really just two disks of pierced metal?"

"Yup, been around for a thousand years or more. Little fins make them turn in opposition to each other. That's what makes the noise."

Heero picked up a sheet of metal. "This what you're going to use?"

"Yeah. Might have to put that on the back burner. I might not have time."

"Got a template?"

Duo pointed with his chin as both hands were busy. "There. Just a piece of cardboard that I cut out, but all you do is trace it on with a grease pencil and cut it with snips. Doesn't have to be real smooth. Just the center hole needs to be smooth so it'll spin easily. You got time?"

Heero shook his head. "Not really, but I'll find someone to do it."

Duo mock pouted at Heero then leaned to the side for a quick kiss.

Zechs was giving Wufei all the information he could. Wufei was whispering replies to the questions Zechs was asking. Zechs was doing his best not to completely lose it. It really was working, really.

Wufei whispered, "Relena thinks it's an ulcer. It hurts, really hurts. Zechs, I'll admit I'm scared. I've never hurt so bad in all my life. That kick broke something open. I'm tasting blood and sour bile. Love, you have to get us out. I don't think I've got much more time. Please."

Zechs transmitted, "We're on our way. I'm the diversion so either Heero or Duo is taking you directly to the hospital. Hang on. Don't you dare leave me."

"I'll try with all my might."

Heero sighed, making Zechs jump. He still couldn't get used to the way Heero could slip in under his radar.

"How bad is it?"

Zechs bit at his lip. "He says he's in a lot of pain. The stoic that he is, that means he's in agony. We have to get him out of there quickly. Really quickly. When does the mission start?"

Heero glanced at his watch. "About an hour. Sundown is at 6:43. You need to be in position a-sap. Duo's got some toys for you. He'll fill you in on all your mission parameters. I'm going to see if I can't review all the photos from the flitter. I'll get back to you in about twenty minutes. Can I plug in here?"

Heero sat down at a desk near the radio. Zechs just nodded and walked out, moving a bit more quickly than dignity dictated.

Heero settled to watch the pictures he'd downloaded from the flitter into his computer. He put the slide show on fast and settled into unblinking quintessence. It didn't take him long at 2/10 of a second a picture to see Relena standing in a window. He hit stop and clicked back to the picture.

After examining her, the background and the slant of the sun on the walls, he decided that everything added up to them being exactly where they thought they were, in the infirmary on the third floor, west wing, west side. Heero smirked happily, they were going to be coming in from out of the sun.

Zechs found Duo carefully packing a backpack with all sorts of interesting things. He settled one hip on a nearby table and listened as Duo explained exactly what each thing was and how to activate it. Zechs smiled, a rather sadistic expression that made his handsome face into a scary mask.

Duo grinned back. "Don't sweat it. 'Fei will be fine. We'll get him out and into the hospital before the smoke clears. Ok?"

Zechs nodded jerkily. "Ok. It better be ok."

"Got it in one. Now, remember, the first charge, the one for the wall is in the left-hand pocket when the pack is facing you. The charge for the electric cable is in the front. Access the situation, keep in contact with us and ... kick ass."

"I'd say Ninmo whatever it is, only my Japanese is ... limited."

Duo snickered at that and pointed out the door. "Get going."

"Gone!" Zechs picked up the pack and left, his long legs eating up ground.

Duo and Heero climbed into their mecha after an intense kiss.

"Take care of yourself."

Heero tugged at Duo's braid. "You too."

The soft whine of the winches carried them into their cockpits where they waited while Zechs made his way to his position. He was to set the charge on the wall first. The detonation was their signal to start their part of the mission.

Heero managed to maneuver Wing, he could never convince himself to prefix it with Neo, to where he could get Zechs on his external camera. He had to admit that the man was an expert at stealth, nearly as good as Duo.

He set his transmitter to transfer the signal to the central com unit and hoped against hope that no onehad messed with anything.

Zechs moved easily through the short brush growing too close to the wall. He set his charge and found a dip in the ground far enough way that he was protected from the expected blast. Settling in he watched the seconds as they changed in the face of his watch. He spoke softly into his mic. "Only, five ... four ... three ... two ... one. And ... shit!"

The blast scorched over his head, making him glad that he'd gotten as far away as he had. And glad that he'd braided his hair especially tightly and stuffed it down the back of his shirt. He scrambled to his feet and ran for the wall, tossing in a few flash-bangs on general principles.

He ran to the next blast location and set that charge and just kept on running. He only needed to get about ten feet away as this charge was aimed into the ground. The fountain of dirt and debris drove his first attackers back into the doorway.

Zechs made a long looping run, then headed straight back through the gap in the wall, tossing flash-bangs and gas grenades as he went. He was on the radio to Duo the whole time. Duo kept him posted on what they were doing while he was doing his best not to get shot.

While Zechs was blasting his way through the wall, Duo was tearing down the outer fence. This was in the way a bit so it wound up with a gaping hole in it. Both Neo's could step over it but why take the chance of getting entangled in it. Heero helped by dragging the section out of the way.

They had just walked around the perimeter and found their entry point opposite the infirmary. Tearing down the fence would ensure their retreat with Wufei and Relena.

They stalked into the yard and to the main building, crushing everything between them and the fence. Duo took a moment to stomp around making a good take off area for them both. That made it possible for Heero to make it to the windows first.

Heero drove his hand into the windows smashing them into bits. The bits flew all over the infirmary but didn't hurt Relena or Wufei. Wufei had insisted on wedging them both into a corner of the room under a mattress.

Relena immediately started dragging Wufei to his feet, he staggered slightly but made it to his feet, face white and sweaty.

"Heero, you've got to get him to the hospital quickly. I think he's got an ulcer and it's perforated. Hurry!"

Heero kicked the mic switch to transmit with his chin. "I'll take him. Duo's right behind me, he'll get you. Help Wufei into my hand. I'll hold him and be gone in a second."

Relena got Wufei into Wing's hand and settled as best she could. She touched him on the shoulder and said softly, "Thank you so much, Wufei, take care of yourself." She smiled a bit then stepped away.

Heero closed Wing's hand into a loose fist and pulled it out of the building. He walked away to stand in the open space Duo had created.

"I'm taking off. Relena's waiting for you, Duo. Hurry and get her, I want this over with now. Zechs is going to have fits. Wufei looks terrible."

"Ok. See if you can accomplish lift-offwhile I shield the windows from the blast of your verniers. If you can't, you'll have to walk farther off."

Heero revved his verniers until the back lash threatened to break the walls. No go. There was too much disturbance.

"Not happening. I'll walk off around the building and into the main yard. And will you please do something about those idiots shooting at me. I'm afraid they'll hit Wufei."

Duo grunted. "Will do."

Duo pulled his brand-new scythe weapon from its holster on N-Deathscythe's back and used it to cut a giant hole in the side of the building beside him. The main building was L-shaped and the terrorists had a good shot at the other leg from where they were. Duo's scythe convinced them that shooting at Wing as he took off wasn't that good an idea. In fact it got them to back off completely.

Duo watched as Heero walked off to the other side of the building to see if he could take off from there. He could and announced that he was heading straight for the hospital. Wufei was nearly unconscious and in obvious pain. Heero worked his controls carefully. He had a delicate balancing act to accomplish. He had to hold Wufei firmly enough that he was protected from backwash and wind blast as well as out of danger of being dropped, but he couldn't hold him too hard as he'd be crushed in the N-Gundam's massive fist. Heero fiddled until he was satisfied that he'd neither crush nor drop Wufei and he was safe from the rip of the wind.

Neo-Wing took off with a roar and disappeared into the night.

Duo turned to get Relena and swore. There were at least three men in the room with her. One had her by the arm and was dragging her to the door, another was shooting at Neo-Scythe with a small caliber handgun and the third was unbuckling his belt.

Duo snarled, "You fuck. You're dead meat." grabbed his rifle and opened the belly hatch. He didn't take long to get the shooter and Mr. Pants. The last one hid behind Relena.

"Fucking creep. Hide behind a woman, will you? Well, we'll see about that."

Duo grabbed his winch line and dropped so fast that it looked like he'd jumped. He landed in a feral crouch and glared at Relena, willing her to understand. His fingers twitched, he grimaced, she nodded.

Duo pointed his handgun at the two and snarled, "Let her go. Now! Move!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna let my ticket out of here go. Kid, ya lost it."

Relena stomped on his foot and dropped her weight on his arm. Duo shot him right between the eyes. Contrary to popular belief, if you're shot in the head that's it. There's no reflexive pull of the trigger, everything goes limp. The man dropped like a stone and fell on top of Relena. She squealed and writhed.

"Easy, be still. I can't get a grip on him with you bucking around like that." Duo hauled the man off Relena and pull her to her feet. "You ok? He didn't hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine, just ... ick! Let's go. There's more of them around. I heard the one with the gun say so."

Duo pushed Relena toward the window, putting himself between her and the door. "Get up the cable. Hurry! I don't want any nasty surprises."

Relena took one look out the window, glanced at the cable and whimpered. Duo poked her urgently. He could hear foot falls in the hallway.

"I can't. I just can't. Duo, I'm sorry, I'm afraid. I just can't do it."

Duo just reached out and grabbed the handle, put his foot on the foot rest and held out his other arm. "Come on. I'll hold you. Just put your foot on mine and we'll go up together. Ok?"

Relena hurried to Duo and did as he asked, careful to make sure not to grab his gun hand. He wrapped his arm around Relena with his pistol still in his hand, all it took was a thumb to the button on the remote on his belt to activate the winch.

Relena held on tight and hid her face in Duo's neck. Neither one of them noticed the men who rushed into the room behind them. Duo did notice the hand grenade that bounced off his back.

The grenade went off with a strangled pop and shrapnel flew all over. Duo jerked and Relena could hear his teeth grit.

"Duo?"

"Caught a piece of shrapnel in my back. You ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. But ... if you're wounded ..."

"We still go. Can't hang around here, literally?" The winch halted, as they were at the cockpit door. "Step in. Move it! I don't have much time. Got to get this wound plugged."

Relena scooted into the cockpit quickly and looked for first aid. Duo fell into the pilot's chair with a groan.

"This is not good. Not good at all. I ... Relena, I don't know if I can pilot, I can't feel my left foot."

Relena dragged the med kit from its cubby and opened it. "I got an 'Excellent' on my first aid test in school. I don't know if my skills are up to this but I'm going to try. First, don't you think you ought to shut the door?"

Duo nodded and activated the door lock. "Ok. That's done, what next?"

Relena snapped on a pair of gloves and turned to Duo. "Lean forward and let me see."

Relena gasped when she saw Duo's back, something was sticking out of it right next to his spine.

"Well, that sounded bad. What's up?"

"You've got something sticking out of your back. You shouldn't have sat down. I think you're adding to the damage. Stay leaned forward until I can figure out what to pad it with."

Duo rubbed his face with both hands. "Relena, you have to pull it out."

Relena gasped softly. "Duo, you can't, it's too near your spine. What ... if you ... but..."

Duo waited as Relena sorted out all the ramifications of pulling the shrapnel out and not pulling it out. She wound down and grumbled, "All right, but I don't like it."

Relena pulled the shard of what turned out to be glass from Duo's back while he bit down on a tongue depressor to keep from screaming. He didn't want to scare Relena into doing it wrong. He felt like his entire lower body was on fire.

"Ok. ... that went well. I can still feel my right leg. But I can't feel or move my left. You're going to have to work the control."

Duo flexed his leg, or tried to, nothing much happened. He was in real trouble and he knew it, but he still had to get Relena somewhere safe.

"Maxwell to control, control are you there?"

Relena pressed a thick pad of Quickclot against Duo's back and wrapped it tightly with an elastic bandage. Duo endured this stoically while he spoke with Zechs, who had returned to the com center when his diversion was accomplished. Zechs told him to come back to HQ as the closest medical facility.

Relena interrupted, "He ought to go to the hospital right away."

"Sister, are you going to pilot that machine?" he didn't give her time to reply. "Don't think so. Get him here. Quickly."

Duo settled back into the pilot's seat. "You're going to have to work the left foot control. I can't do it. I've got a little movement, but I'm too weak on that side to activate the contacts."

Relena bit at her lip. "Ok. I can do that. But how? I don't want to sit in your lap. One, it's not going to be good for your back and two, Heero will kill me. So ... what do I do?"

Duo bit back a whimper, it wouldn't do to scare Relena. "You put your foot under mine and when you feel me push on it, you push the foot pedal down. I'll scoot over in the chair enough that you can sort of sit on my knee, Heero will be a lot more liable to kill you if you let me die here. Not that I'm gonna or anything so don't go havin' a hissy. "

Relena stuck her nose in the air. "I'll have you know I don't have hissies. I'm much too dignified. I have a royal tizzy. Which I'll do later. Now, let's get this show on the road."

Duo snickered through his pain and checked the controls to make sure that they were going to compensate for the difference between the force of his leg and Relena's. He didn't want the mecha to stagger drunkenly, or worse, fall down.

It didn't take them long to make it to the camp, Relena was better at this than Duo had thought she'd be. She confessed that she had won a prize in three-legged race at school, with Dorothy Catalonia as her partner.

Duo laughed loudly, more Shinigami than not. He really was pissed at not getting to put the terrorists in their place. Now he'd settle for making it back to HQ before he passed out.

He did make it but just barely. Relena called on the radio, not knowing that she had to release the transmit button in order to hear, and nearly blew the circuits out, luckily she let go just as Zechs tried to talk to her again.

"Relena, don't do anything else to the mic, just listen. There's a red button on the left hand console just under the controls. Push it. And when you need to talk to me again let go of the mic button. I can't talk back until you do."

Relena bit her lip. Duo had tried to do something to that console but she had been in the way. He was now only semiconscious. She reached over and pushed the button, easing off Duo as she did so.

"Auto pilot engaged. Pilot biometric levels out of optimum parameters. Awaiting instructions."

Relena nearly jumped out of her skin. "Um ... hello? ... who are you?"

"This is the AI auto pilot. Which emergency do you wish addressed first?"

"Oh." Relena thought hard. She could do this. "I'm not sure. Can you ... triage the situation?"

"Yes. Please wait." Relena checked Duo, who batted at her hands and made a futile effort to haul himself out of the chair. She snarled at him to, 'Be still, idiot. You'll only make everything worse.' The AI made a sort of 'bip' noise and began to out line what needed to be done.

"Speak again so that I can determine if you are authorized to give me commands."

Relena dithered a bit then said, "I'm not. You should get orders from my brother, Zechs. He's right there." She didn't think about whether or not the AI had internal video.

"I cannot take orders from external personnel. ... speaker identified as Relena Peacecraft. Beginning triage."

"Well, could you hurry up. He's in bad shape and we have to get him down from here and into a MASH."

Duo moaned just then and Relena finally freaked. "Milliardo James Andrew never mind ... Get up here and get Duo down ... now!"

Zechs grimaced. He really hated his full name. He left the com unit to head for the N-Gundam, even thought it was extremely dangerous. The mecha hadn't been shut down yet and might take any approach as a threat.

Inside, Relena was working hard not to cry. She was afraid that Duo was dying on her. He looked like hell and blood was dripping onto the floor.

"Emergencies triaged. First priority, shut down external security. Second priority, shut down suit systems. Third priority, extract pilot and obtain medical aid."

"Isn't that the first priority?"

"No, the suit must be shut down properly or extraction will not be accomplished. Follow my instructions."

Relena sighed, her nervous breakdown was going to have to wait.

"Very well. What do I do?"

The AI gave her instructions on which buttons to punch and in what order. She was relieved when the cockpit door opened and Zechs stepped in.

"Relena, what the hell?"

Relena just threw herself into his arms and demanded that he 'Do something right now!' so he put her aside gently and checked Duo.

"Well, shit. We've got to get him out of here now. He's bleeding like a stuck pig. Shocky too. Don't like it."

"AI speaking. Please commence systems shut down."

Zechs didn't even blink. "Removal of pilot is recommended before systems shut down. On line systems stabilize the suit."

"Voice recognition check completed. Zechs Merquise recognized. Awaiting orders."

Zechs stuck his head out the door and yelled down to the medic crew to send up a basket and help.

"Pilots vitals."

The AI gave Zechs a rundown of Duo's vital signs from its sensors imbedded in the pilot's chair. They weren't good. His blood pressure was low and his heart beat was erratic. Zechs growled.

A medic stuck his head in the door and looked the situation over quickly. "Ok, pal, first thing; we need to clear out all extraneous personnel. The lady needs to go down now. Then you."

Zechs just nodded. "Yes, Relena needs to be out of here. Then we get Maxwell out. I have to stay to shut down the suit."

The medic thought for a second. "We'll send Miss Relena down the zip line, then we can bring up the basket. While that's getting done, I'll start getting him ready to go. Miss? If you would?"

Relena groaned. "I'm afraid if heights. I can't do this."

Zechs just snapped. "You will. Duo's at deaths doorstep and you're afraid of heights? Close your eyes then. Now get on that zip. No arguments."

Relena did as Zechs told her to do, sticking her foot in the stirrup and grabbing the line. She closed her eyes and clung to the line, only opening them when she felt hands on her arms.

She was hustled to the MASH unit and endured a quick down and dirty once over. When they were assured that there was nothing wrong with her, other than a few bruises, she was sent out of the way.

Relena didn't object she had other things to do.

Zechs, meanwhile, was helping the medic take care of Duo. The first thing he did was get the pilot's chair flat. Then he set the arms in the down position. The medic waited impatiently but he knew that this was better, he now had fairly unrestricted access to Duo.

"This is bad. He's got a gash in his back like he's been stabbed with a machete or something."

Zechs saw the piece of glass on the floor. "Or maybe this? If this was in his back, Relena would have had to remove it or he'd lay back on it and stab it deeper."

"Yeah, that looks like our 'weapon' shrapnel. Damn. Well, let's get him packed up and down to the MASH. We have to get him plugged up before he bleeds out. Here."

The medic handed Zechs another Quickclot and went to work. He'd removed the old bandages in order to check the wound now all he could do was rebandage it and get Duo down to the ground asap.

The basket came up with two more medics. They carefully got Duo from the pilot's chair into the basket and from there to the ground. Zechs stayed behind to shut down the suit.

While he was in the beginning stages of shut down the radio pinged. Zechs picked up the head set and put it on.

"Merquise here."

"Zechs, it's Heero. Wufei is giving me fits. He wants me to give you an up date."

"Go ahead."

"He's got a perforated ulcer. And it's infected, in fact, that's what kept him going. The infection acted like a plug incarceratingit. But that kick broke everything loose. He's in surgery right now. The doc says he's not in any danger. But he's going to be here for several days. They want to give him a course of antibiotics and steroids to make sure he cleans out all the infection and help him heal. I'll stay with him until you get here. Where's Duo?"

"Bad news. He's bad. I don't know exactly how bad yet, we just got him out of the suit and into MASH. I'll call you back on your cell as soon as I know anything. He caught a piece of shrapnel in the back. Fuck! Heero, I'm so sorry."

Heero's voice when he replied was cold and dead. "I see. I'll stay here until you get here. Then I'll go to Duo. Wufei will be fine, the doc said so. I'll wait for an update. Bye."

Zechs sighed, finished shutting down N-Deathscythe and rode the line down.

He stepped right into the middle of an ant's nest. Medics scurried about, some checking Duo's vitals others opening the MASH unit doors still others preparing to remove Duo to the surgical area.

Relena was surrounded by sheriff'sdeputies with a medic in attendance. Zechs decided to talk to Relena first.

"Relena, are you all right? Please be, please?"

Relena turned to Zechs and held out her arms, he snatched her into his and held on for a moment. Then he pushed her away, running his hands over her quickly. She batted gently at him.

"Stop. I'm fine, thanks to Duo. Listen. I am insisting on getting the first update. If things are as bad as I think they are, you're to do as I tell you and not argue. Please. Do this for me. Please?"

Zechs, still suffering from the shock of seeing his sister covered with Duo's blood, promised.

"Very well. I promise."

Relena pinned him with a look. "Swear."

"I swear. But why?"

Relena sighed. "You know you and Heero are interdicted from leaving Earth. I have been hearing rumblings that I don't like. I want you off Earth as soon as possible. If you do what I say, I can get you both off with a minimum of fuss. Do you understand me?"

Zechs thought of the vastness of open space and his longing for it. "Not really but I'll do what you say if it'll get me off this ball of mud. I admit that I don't trust the promises of ESUN any more than I did the ones of Oz. What about Heero?"

Relena winked. "Quatre has a plan for him. If we take this opportunity, you're off our plate. Go. See what they have to say."

Zechs started to go then turned back. "See what you can find out about Wufei, please."

Relena nodded. "Working on it. Go."

Zechs went to the MASH unit intake and asked to speak to anyone who knew anything about Duo. It didn't take long for someone to show.

"Excuse me. Are ... oh, you're the Lightning Count. Yes, well, we've got some problems. Mr ... or Major Maxwell's spine was partially severed by the shrapnel. They've repaired the tissue damage but we can't do much for the spinal cord here on Earth. Any treatment for that involves stem cells and nul gravity. So ... his papers list you, Commander Yuy, Commander Chang and Quatre Winner as possible responsible individuals. So since you're here, will you sign off on treatment?"

Zechs held out his hand for the paper work, read quickly and then signed. "I'll be accompanying him off planet. Make arrangements."

"Sir!" the man saluted and left to take care of arrangements. Zechs hurried back to Relena's side.

"I'm Duo's guardian. He's put my name on the list of responsible persons. I'm going off planet with him possibly within the hour. His spine is partially severed and he's to go to ... probably L4's medical station. It's the best so that's where I want to arrange for him to go. Do you have any word about Wufei? I'm really worried about him what's going on?"

Relena shook her head. "Not yet. I'm trying to get hold of Heero. And fend off hordes of reporters until I have some solid information. I'll let you know as soon as I do. Go stay with Duo, or as close as they'll let you." She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket and snarled, "First thing they do is hand me a damn phone. I haven't had a shower, I'm covered with blood and ... and stuff and all they want to do is jabber at me about the political ramifications of my 'situation'. Here. Talk to this idiot. I'm going to get a shower if I have to take it naked in the middle of this camp. Then I'm finding food. Keep me posted about Duo."

Relena stomped off as Zechs answered the phone.

"Merquise." He listened for a moment then snapped. "Catalonia, keep them off for at least 12 hours. There's to be no leaks, no intel of any sort until Relena has had a chance to clean up, eat and rest. Maxwell is in surgery right now and Chang is in the hospital in another location. There's no more info than that. When we have it, you'll get it. You do your job and we'll do ours."

Dorothy said that she'd keep the reporters off until noon the next day but that was probably the best she could do. Zechs thanked her and hung up.

Heero sat in the waiting room at the hospital and worried. He sat erect, feet flat on the floor, hands resting easily on his thighs still as a statue and worried until he felt slightly sick. Wufei had vomited blood as they carried him into the emergency room.

Something came into his field of vision and he flinched.

"Easy son. Thoughtyou might like some coffee."

Heero looked up at the man and tried to smile. "Yes, thank you." He took the cup and sipped gratefully.

"You want to talk about it? I'm a good listener."

Heero nodded. "My friend is in surgery. Perforated ulcer. They say he'll be ok, but it's hard to just wait."

The man nodded back. "Know what you mean. Just sitting around is ... difficult."

"I'm not good at inaction. I'm better with stuff I can ... shoot. Or blow up. Or ... I'm a soldier, not a sitter."

"I can tell. I was a chaplain in the Alliance. You look so young, but I can tell you were in combat. It's hard to just sit and wait. Um ... that your mecha out there?"

Heero just nodded. It was kind of hard to miss N-Wing. Heero turned to look at Wing and realized that a policeman was checking him out.

"Oh, shit. I better go see what he's doing. If he tries much the security system ... I set it. The alarm will scare the b-jesus out of people." For the first time in his life Heero dithered. "But ... Wufei."

The man smiled. "I'm Father Jackson. You go out and take care of that. I'll wait for your call. If they call you, I'll come get you. Now scoot."

Heero thanked Reverend Jackson and hurried out to see what was going on.

"Excuse me, can I help you officer?"

"Yup. Gotta move that thing. It's in a no parking zone."

Heero blinked for a second. "I ... a what?"

"No Parking Zone. See right there on that sign. No Parking. No stopping or standing at anytime. Emergency vehicles only. And while you can't say it's parked exactly, it sure is standing."

Heero looked at the officer as if he's lost his mind. "It's a mecha. And where exactly am I supposed to put it?"

"Don't get cute with me, young man. There's plenty of open parking right over there." The officer pointed to the back part of the lot. He even noted that it was clear of power lines and light poles.

Heero nodded to indicate his understanding and started to mount the N-Gundam. The officer stopped him.

"Wait a second there, sonny. Don't think your going to get out of a ticket just because your vehicle is unusual. Here." The officer handed Heero a slip of paper.

He looked at it and then just stared. The officer had given him a parking ticket. It even had a license number on it.

"Um ... where did you get a license number? I mean ... it doesn't have a plate."

The officer gave him the 'why do _I_ get all the idiots' look. "Right there, bub."

Heero looked at the foot of N-Wing and sure enough there was a number neatly stenciled over the instep. 'Winner Enterprises MS-01' and it was neatly inscribed in the license plate box on the ticket.

Heero clutched the paper in his hand and started to laugh. He laughed until he sounded slightly hysterical. The cop flipped his ticket book shut and reached out very slowly to take him by one shoulder.

"Hey! Not that big a deal. It's $25 including court costs." Heero shivered and tried to get him self under control.

"I'm sorry. It's just that one of my friends is in the hospital with a perforated ulcer, I haven't heard from my boy friend nor anyone else and I'm really, really tired. I'll move Wing in a minute. Ok?"

"Sure thing, kid. Just take it easy. Move the ... thing in a few minutes. Mail in the ticket within 60 days."

Heero used his remote to open the cockpit door and activate the winch. He movedWing to the back of the parking lot and returned to the waiting room.

" What was that all about?"

Heero handed the priest the ticket. "Got a parking ticket."

Father Jackson examined the ticket and just sighed. "Sometimes that boy really worries me. I'll take care of it."

Heero took the ticket back and smiled. "No, I'll take it to the sheriffand let him take care of it."

Heero leaned his head back against the wall. "I'm going to close my eyes a bit. I'm going to have to take care of Chang. Something's happened to Duo, or Relena." Just then Heero's phone started to ring.

He pulled it from his pocket and listened intently. "I'll come at once." He listened again and his face fell. "All right, but I don't like it."

"What is it? Can I help?"

"My lover was wounded after I left to bring Wufei here. He's going up to L-4 Med a-sap. Spinal cord injury. I have to stay here and watch for Chang. Merquise is going with Duo." Heero just slumped where he sat. Thiswas beyond anything he'd expected.

"I'm sorry to hear that. This Merquise wouldn't be the Lightning Count by any chance?" Heero just nodded. "I know him, you're lover is in good hands. That man will put down his life if it's necessary."

Heero sighed and straightened up. "We were separated for a long time. We've been back together for a while and now ... he's going away and I'm stuck here. It's just not fair!" He banged his head on the wall.

"Easy son. You'll hurt yourself. Here, come here." Heero let the man ease him into a hug. "It'll be all right. Just relax for a bit. If the nurse comes in, I'll hear her. Put your head on my lap and get some sleep. Everything's better for a few z's."

Heero allowed himself to be settled on the uncomfortable bench with his head in Father Jackson's lap.

An hour later a nurse announced, "Family and friends of Chang Wufei?"

Heero sat up immediately and said, "Here."The nurse just opened the door and waited. "Thank you, sir. That was really nice of you. Here." Heero took a card out of his wallet and handed it to the Father. "That's my card. If there's anything I can ever do for you, call." Heero turned to the nurse and hurried through the door.

The doctor's interview was simple and straight forward. He told Heero that Wufei's ulcer had perforated at least 48 hours before he started the mission, but infection had actually plugged the perforation so nothing much had happened. The kick had broken the 'cap' and stomach acid had seeped into his abdominal cavity causing the pain. Wufei could have gone much longer without symptoms except for the kick. The doctor also said that Wufei would make a complete recovery and that Heero could sit with him in the recovery room. Heero left to find the room. The feeling of relief made him lean against the wall for a moment before he headed in the general direction of the elevators.

Zechs snapped his phone shut and sighed. Wufei would be fine after a few days in the hospital. Duo, on the other hand, needed to be in space as soon as possible. His spine had been stabilized with titanium rods and the stem cells injected, but they couldn't do their work on Earth. They only began to multiply and specialize in nul grav.

He held a quick conversation with Relena and agreed, reluctantly, that he was going to have to go with Duo whether he liked it or not. He'd already promised Relena that he'd go, but now he had to for Duo's sake. He grumbled sourly, "WhatI do for friendships sake and yours."

Relena patted him on the shoulder. "I know. But I really want you off planet, you'll never have a normal life here. Quatre will help get Heero off. Then all we have to do is figure out how to get Chang away. You all can have a real life out there."

So Zechs Merquise and Duo Maxwell were packed into an air evac taken to the nearest space station and sent into space on a column of fire. N-Deathscythe in the hold.

Relena walked into the hotel conference room. It had been 12 hours since she'd been rescued, checked out by the medic and let go. Now she had to sort out everything for a bunch of reporters.

"Miss Relena. Miss Relena."

"Over here. Please."

"Please, just one comment."

Relena stepped up to the podium and waited. The reporters continued to pelt her with questions. Questions she had no chance of answering because she couldn't understand them. She tapped the podium with a pencil, it didn't do any good. She sighed.

The sheriff stepped up to the podium and banged on it once with his fist. "All right you bunch of yahoos ... SHUT UP!" This stunned everyone silent. Relena turned to Sheriff Haskins and said, "Thank you Levi." Then she turned to the podium again and announced. "I have a very short statement to make and I will NOT take questions after."

She waited for a moment while the reporters made their feelings known. "Yes, that's enough now. I'm usually patient with you but for now my patience is at an end. Anyone causing any disturbance will be forcibly ejected. Now.

"I was not harmed in anyway by my captors.

"Chang Wufei was beaten severely enough that his ulcer perforated. He's in hospital, has been operated on and is expected to make a full recovery. Heero Yuy is with him.

"Duo Maxwell was hit in the back by some shrapnel caused by a grenade thrown at us. His spinal column was damaged. He's on his way to L-4 Med accompanied by my brother, Zechs Merquise.

"That is all there is to know for now. Other announcements will be made when anything new is known. That is all."

Relena started to leave but one reporter, braver than the others asked, "And that's it. Just like that?"

Relena held up a hand to stop the security men from throwing him out. "Yes, just like that. Why?"

"They're so young, and they have spent most of their lives fighting in wars. I'm not even sure what question I want to ask. Why do they do it? They ... they get wounded, they could be killed. I don't understand and neither do my readers." Relena took pity on the man.

"It's the price they paid and continue to pay. They fight so that others don't have to."

The end. (Sort of)

---

Information on the ulcer and its effects was obtained from my personal physician who says they regularly get 'old farmers' in with exactly the symptoms I describe. He said that he's had them say they had a 'bad bellyache' up to a week before coming in. I'm sure Wufei is as tough as a Missouri farmer.

This is the end of the first story in this arc. The next part is short, just a transitional piece, then I'll start Building a New Home.


End file.
